Embedding Polanyi's Market Society

Abstract

Karl Polanyi remains one of the most trenchant critics of neoclassical economics. His "embeddedness" thesis, which holds that all economic activities and institutions are enmeshed in social relations and institutions, offers a sound theoretical basis for economic sociology. Nonetheless, he fails to embed the market concept. This theoretical lacuna manifests itself in his classic account of the rise of market society in England, The Great Transformation ([19441 1957), where he neglects to consider institutional diversity and discontinuities in English commercial development. Polanyi's embeddedness thesis can be taken to its logical conclusion; that is, even the market can be embedded. "Markets" can be treated as social networks or organizations constituted by traders. I offer as an empirical illustration a brief case study of the rise of "market society" in England.Karl Polanyi remains one of the most cogent critics of neoclassical economics.1 He emphasizes the embeddedness of economic activities and institutions and the historical relativity of economic concepts. Nonetheless, he leaves the core concept of the market unchallenged. Despite his embeddedness thesis, market exchange remains a disembedded concept. In this paper, I propose that his argument should be taken to its logical conclusion-that all economic activities and institutions are embedded in social relations. A sociological foundation should be laid for the core of economic theory, the concept of the market. The project is to analyze the nature of markets, hitherto an unquestioned assumption, as historically variable social organizations constituted by traders. Thus, my critical examination of Polanyi's economic sociology serves as a step toward constructing a sociological alternative to the neoclassical conception of the market.The organization of this essay is as follows. First, I delineate the main contours of Polanyi's economic sociology. I stress that he accepts the neoclassical concept of the market and thereby cedes the analysis of contemporary "market" econoDirect all correspondence to: John Lie,

Karl Polanyi and the antinomies of embeddedness

“…Perhaps his most famous contribution to social thought, this concept has also been a source of enormous confusion'. The second part of Block's assertion can easily be witnessed by the number of interpretations that the concept of embeddedness has provoked (Reddy, 1984;Granovetter, 1985;Stanfield, 1986;Zukin and DiMaggio, 1990;Lie, 1991;Barber, 1995;Beckert, 1996;Krippner, 2001;Le Velly, 2002;Block, 2003;Krippner et al, 2004). In this article, I argue that the confusion follows from a central fracture in Polanyi's thought.…”

“…If integrated as a result of operations with strictly market ends, it moves towards being disembedded through the commodification of labour, land and money each other, which reveals a 'central ambiguity' in Polanyi's approach to studying economic life (Jenkins, 1977, p. 70). Several commentaries on Polanyi observe this ambiguity (Garlan, 1973;Jenkins, 1977;Dupré and Philippe-Rey, 1978;Lie, 1991;Booth, 1994;Barber, 1995;Krippner, 2001;Block, 2003). Krippner (2001, p. 782) deems it a reconcilable contradiction; it arises from Polanyi's objective of refuting analysis based on homo economicus while at the same time 'portraying the market .…”

Karl Polanyi and the New Economic Sociology: Notes on the Concept of (Dis)embeddedness*

“…The views held by Randles (2003), Lie (1991) and Gemici (2008) seem to be good examples of the dominant positions within NES, providing us with a suitable starting point for a critical assessment of it. In The Great Transformation, according to Randles (2003: 420-421), Polanyi admits that markets can be disembedded; but in "The Economy as Instituted Process" disembeddedness is just a (theoretical) possibility, since markets are, in a way, institutionalized.…”

Karl Polanyi e a Nova Sociologia Económica: Notas sobre o conceito de (dis)embeddedness

“…Parece-nos que as visões de Randles (2003), Lie (1991) e Gemici (2008 sintetizam bem as posições predominantes na NSE, fornecendo assim um bom ponto de partida para a nossa avaliação crítica da mesma. Segundo Randles (cf.…”