Page 115 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

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Azawakh © Strassner & Eiles, 1979

A purely functional view, as we find it with Angela Perri and many other contemporaries,
is therefore a dead end that does not allow for a future perspective. A one-sided

exploitation of so-called “farm animals” with fantasies of effectiveness will not be able to
endure in the future, because resources are only available in certain quantities and the
necessary qualities for the effective production of food in considerable quantities must
remain questionable.

Therefore, we need to think about how to get back to a natural balance in our modern

world. Economics must return to its roots, namely the ancient Greek οἰκονομία
(oikonomia). Ancient Greek economic theory distinguished - classically in Aristotle -
household management (oikonomia) from a boundless pursuit of monetary gain
(chrematistik ), which was regarded as contrary to nature.

The practice of contemporary economic activity, on the other hand, was characterised by
cross-polis monetary relations and complexly networked households. In times of climate

change, there is reason to rethink the significance of ancient oikonomia for an analysis of
the modern economy, but also for methodological self-reflection on modern
conceptualisations of ancient “economy” [70]. The understanding of oikonomia as a
consideration of the conditions of the entire household can very well be applied to the
conditions of the entire globe.