Swedberg conceptualises and sums up the works in the Iield with alacrity to establish a platIorm Ior Iurther research and to look at the delicate, important yet ill-researched link between the society and the economy. Largely the book is a step by step guide to the subject but a critical perspective that originates with regard to the concept oI interest.
Swedberg conceptualises and sums up the works in the Iield with alacrity to establish a platIorm Ior Iurther research and to look at the delicate, important yet ill-researched link between the society and the economy. Largely the book is a step by step guide to the subject but a critical perspective that originates with regard to the concept oI interest.
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Swedberg conceptualises and sums up the works in the Iield with alacrity to establish a platIorm Ior Iurther research and to look at the delicate, important yet ill-researched link between the society and the economy. Largely the book is a step by step guide to the subject but a critical perspective that originates with regard to the concept oI interest.
Direitos autorais:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Formatos disponíveis
Baixe no formato DOCX, PDF, TXT ou leia online no Scribd
Review of "Principles of Economic Sociology", by Richard Swedberg
Shashank Shekhar 8al
8oll no 11M43
Concise, yet elaborative. Swedberg`s work may prove to be a landmark in the study oI economic sociology, not because it unearths new grounds in the area but because it conceptualises and sums up the works in the Iield with alacrity to establish a platIorm Ior Iurther research and to look at the delicate, important yet ill-researched link between the society and the economy. It encapsulates the Iundamentals oI economic sociology by tracing the history oI the subject Irom the 19 th century to the beginning oI the 21 st century along with presenting the concepts, ideas and Iindings over time to create a Iramework Ior budding sociologists to research in a new way. Largely the book is a step by step guide to the subject but a critical perspective that originates as a whole is with regard to the concept oI interest wherein Swedberg implores the reader to move beyond the notion oI studying economic sociology exclusively on the basis oI the impact oI social relations on economic actions. From the very beginning, the author sets a tone where he is guiding the reader to understand the road that this type oI study has taken and how societies have changed over time. But at no occasion, does he pass judgements, and opinions expressed are very objective. Although, Max Weber contributed the most among the classics to the Iield oI economic sociology which is emphasised on in the Iirst chapter, Swedberg expounds the theories oI other sociologists as well. For instance, Karl Polanyi`s important works on embededness` and Iorms oI integration` or Schumpeter`s theory oI entrepreneurship and his analysis oI the economy in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, which wasn`t seen as a work oI sociology by Schumpeter himselI, have been covered. Overall he brings out all the major concepts that have been worked upon in the Iield and the ones that have been leIt unstudied by sociologists over time to give a good direction to the book in general. As a guide to a student oI sociology, Swedberg does a commendable job oI presenting comparisons without bias a Ieature apparent in the second chapter. The concept oI interest has been explained Irom the minimalist point oI view oI Durkhiem, the maximalist approach oI James Coleman and the others like Weber, Simmel and Bordieu, who as per Swedberg Iall in between`. Though he does recognise certain theories as obsolete or incorrect, he substantiates the redundancy each time with Iacts and logical reasoning as he does while making a case Ior capitalism being the most important and also the natural point oI departure Ior economic sociology`. Similarly, globalisation is looked at, by Swedberg, as a part oI the economic organisation which needs better study to overcome the current exaggeration and hype. While talking oI economic structures, Swedberg does not lose sight oI the Iirms. He discusses the theories oI economics and how they can be used Ior better research in the Iield oI sociological economics. He brieIly describes the way sociologists have studied Iirms and suggests ways to take this part oI the economy in a diIIerent manner. While earlier studies have mostly conIined themselves to resource dependency, population ecology and new institutionalism to study the Iirms singularly as a representative Iirm, Swedberg suggests that sociologists need to stop equating the Iirm with all other organisations, take into account the history oI Iirms Irom a wider perspective and study oI the work oI the people employed in greater detail. Importance oI study oI Iirms lies in the Iact that a large number oI people in modern societies get their identity Irom their jobs and spend large chunks oI their time on the job. He also comments on network analysis and the concept oI business groups. To study the markets, Swedberg, not Ior the Iirst time in the book, tries to weave a connection between the economist school oI thought and the sociological school oI thought. He talks oI Adam Smith, AlIred Marshall, even economists Irom the Austrian school like Ludwig Van Mises and Friedrich von Hayek and Keynesian economic thought to give a background to how the markets changed with industrial organisation and aIter World War II. He then summarises the works oI sociologists like Weber, Harrison White and Flingstein on markets that include analysing the markets as competition into exchange, the W(y) model, markets as networks, price theory and the idea that markets can be conceptualised as part oI a Iield. He tries to suggest a better usage oI the historical study material and the concept oI interest to arrive at sociological reasoning Ior the markets; and study the norms and the laws that govern them. Swedberg analyses the changes in the Iorm oI money and the concept oI interest with respect to diIIerent markets like labour markets, national or international markets, modern mass markets, capital markets etc. and looks at the concept oI interest in that light Irom the point oI view oI various entities like individuals, political authorities and society at large, that are dependent on markets. The political environment is, arguably, the most important non-economic institution in the study oI economic sociology. Swedberg is careIul enough to not go deep into the political thought but just limits himselI to the state`s participation in various economic theories but he emphasises the importance oI studying politics and economy together. He analyses state Irom the perspective oI the economists Irom works like %ree Duties of te Sovereign by Adam Smith or constitutional economics oI James Buchanan or Douglas North`s neoclassical theory oI the state to substantiate how the state has undergone change with respect to the times and economy and how both the entities are inseparable. Max Weber`s theory oI domination and Neil Flingstein`s ideas oI centrality oI state are major sociological perspectives to drive home the same point. As Ior Iiscal sociology, Swedberg discusses the takes oI Schumpeter and Weber but in the same breath he makes an apt argument about the chasm that exists in this Iield oI study as nothing more concrete has been contributed ever since. Fiscal sociology, Ior Swedberg, is the vantage point Irom where the role oI the state can be analysed. The legal aspect oI the economy and its sociological impact has been leIt untouched by sociologists, as Swedberg points out, 'There currently does not exist what in this book has been called an economic sociology oI law that is, a sociological analysis oI the role oI law in economic liIe. He takes Weber`s sociology oI law as a starting point and goes on to discuss %e Lex Mercatoria, which laid the legal Ioundation Ior modern capitalism. In that very essence, he talks voluminously on various legal institutions and the theories behind the institutions. While Durkhiem`s analysis is highly speculative`, Weber`s work Iorms the basis oI sociological study on property. Swedberg also notes that the idea that law and economy are inherently conservative has been rejected. On the issue oI culture and how it stands against economy and sub texts like economic trust and consumption, Swedberg points out, yet again, to the lack oI cohesion between the economic thought and sociological thought. Swedberg points to Weber`s analysis oI economic ethic and his Iamous passage on the switchmen that describes how interests drive people`s actions while culture (say, in the Iorm oI religion) supplies them with general direction to establish the Iact that interests and culture belong intimately together. Weber`s work points out the people`s tendency to assign distinct values to all oI their economic activities. In diIIerent works, economic culture was also studied by Tocqueville, Geertz, Merton and Lipset. There has been a shiIt in sociology Irom addressing the role oI culture in economic development to investigating the role oI culture in economic liIe more generally represented well by Bordieu`s concept oI cultural capital. This has Iurther resulted in the inception oI the idea oI economic trust which Coleman deIines as a conscious bet` in an exchange between a buyer and seller. The consumption aspect, Swedberg believes, belongs to culture to the extent that it embodies something that people value and it needs to be integrated into economic sociology. In the penultimate chapter oI the book, Swedberg talks about gender and thereby continues his journey to bring to the light areas that could provide new meaning to the study oI economic sociology. To understand the relation between gender and sociology it is important to understand the role oI gender and economics in the household, the situation oI women in the labour market and the role oI emotions in the economy. Besides some oI the works oI Weber, Louise Tilly and Joan Scott analysed peasants and working class women during 1700-1950 in France and England. But there is very little beyond these works to look into and Swedberg analyses the current situation with a couple oI important pointers. Firstly, the role oI women in the labour market has increased over the last century while the Iamily interest has decreased in importance wherein today`s Iamily can be characterised as the result oI diIIerent and conIlicting interests. Secondly, women are discriminated against on the job which is directly related to devaluation oI women, which is universal in nature. As Ior the role oI emotion, Arlie Hochschild in %e Managed Heart argues that emotions constitute an organic part oI many economic acts. It oIIers an exciting research agenda to help close the gap between 'the passions and the interests. As concluding remarks, Swedberg poses some relevant questions to invite discussion. Since economic sociology as a specialised Iield oI study is relatively new there are structural holes in economic sociology. Swedberg tries to resolve these structural problems by suggesting the sociologists to break away Irom the a-social individualism that pervades sociology oI entrepreneurship. For the umpteenth time, Swedberg makes a case Ior the concept oI interest and its role in economic sociology and all through the book he tries to show that there also exists a sociological concept oI interest. Swedberg says, interests are wat drive te actions of individuals at some fundamental level. To this must be added that interests are intensely social phenomena. Other individuals have to be taken into account when an actor attempts to realize her interests; there is also the Iact that interests are socially deIined. A third issue that Swedberg raises is regarding the degree oI objectivity and reIlexivity in economic sociology. He links objectivity and interests and says 'that the stronger the economic interests are, the more they will shape objective reality. There is henceIorth also a direct link between reIlexivity and interests. Finally, Swedberg argues that economic sociology could be used as advocacy upon how the subject may be used in society. More than the opinions oI the people as to how the economy needs to be organised, there is a need to connect to the interest oI the people to enable a change. This book promises a lot. By covering, possibly, all the areas oI economic sociology and analysing the gaps that need to be Iilled and providing cues to carry out research, Swedberg has given a whole new meaning to the subject. As he himselI says in the preIace to the book that the subject may as well become one oI the key contenders in the twenty Iirst century Ior analysing economic phenomena`, he does carry out his aim oI establishing the Iundamentals oI economic sociology in a commendable Iashion.