Kate Raworth(1970 — ?)
Kate Raworth
Royaume-Uni
5 min read
British economist born in 1970, she is known for having designed "Doughnut Economics," an economic model aiming to reconcile human needs with the ecological limits of the planet. Her major work renewed thinking about sustainable development.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in 1970 in the United Kingdom.
- In 2017, publishes her major work "Doughnut Economics," which formalizes her model.
- Designs the "doughnut" model articulating a social foundation and an ecological ceiling.
- Worked for many years for the NGO Oxfam before developing her theory.
- Teaches at the University of Oxford and the University of Amsterdam.
Works & Achievements
A working paper for Oxfam that introduced the doughnut model for the first time, linking social justice with ecological limits.
Her major book, which proposes rethinking the economy to meet everyone's needs without overshooting the planet's limits.
A widely shared talk in which she argues for economies designed to thrive rather than to grow endlessly.
An organization she co-founded to help cities, businesses, and communities put her model into practice.
An adaptation of her theory to the scale of a major city, which has become a case study around the world.
Anecdotes
Before imagining her famous diagram, Kate Raworth worked for the NGO Oxfam, where she wrote reports on global poverty. It was while trying to represent both human needs and the limits of the planet that she had the idea of drawing a ring shaped like an American doughnut.
The name of her theory comes from a simple image: a doughnut, that round cake with a hole punched through the center. The hole represents human shortfalls (hunger, lack of water, lack of schooling) and the outer edge represents ecological damage. The ideal space, sweet and balanced, lies between the two.
As a student, Kate Raworth spent time in the villages of Zanzibar studying how small businesses could help families. This field experience convinced her that the economy should serve people, and not just push numbers higher.
Her book “Doughnut Economics,” published in 2017, was such a success that it was translated into many languages. In 2020, the city of Amsterdam officially adopted her doughnut model to rethink its economy after the health crisis — something never before seen for an idea born on a sketch.
Kate Raworth likes to say that she would never have succeeded in a traditional economics class, because she found the conventional graphs disconnected from real life. She ended up inventing her own graph, which became known worldwide.
Primary Sources
Humanity in the 21st century faces an unprecedented challenge: to meet the needs of all people within the means of our living planet.
Between the social foundation and the environmental ceiling lies a ring-shaped space that is both an ecologically safe and a socially just space for humanity.
What if we designed economies that thrive, whether or not they grow?
Key Places
University town where Kate Raworth teaches and conducts her research at the University of Oxford. The heart of her intellectual activity.
Institution where she studied economics before turning to fieldwork and practice.
Archipelago in Tanzania where she carried out field research on small village businesses early in her career.
The first major city to adopt the doughnut model as a compass for its economic policy in 2020.
Anti-poverty NGO where she worked as a researcher and where the idea of the doughnut was born.
