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The recent economic crisis has once more underscored the close connection between markets and social life, thrusting this point at the centre of the analysis of economic and political activity and has once more asked the question of whether and how individuals are embedded in both. Here I argue that an analysis and partial reconciliation of the positions of F. A. Hayek and Karl Polanyi on the topic can help in this debate.

Bien que Karl Polanyi (1886-1964) n’ait jamais eu pour ambition « d’élaborer une théorie complète des institutions économiques », ce texte met en évidence qu’il y a, dans son œuvre, une analyse aussi implicite que profonde du marché appréhendé comme institution ou « processus institutionnalisé ». À l’encontre de la croyance économique conventionnelle, l’œuvre de Polanyi permet de comprendre que le marché, n’est ni spontané ni autorégulateur. Plus encore, à suivre Polanyi, le capitalisme ou...

This paper interprets Karl Polanyi through dialectical critical realism. The paper maintains that this interpretation offers Polanyi methodological coherence and philosophical support. It further provides dialectical critical realism with an exemplar of explanatory critique. It is argued that the social theory of Polanyi aims at the demystification of market-systems as they are theoretically constructed by both orthodox and heterodox accounts of capitalism. Dialectical critical realism is...

RésuméLes disciplines économiques et anthropologiques, notamment africanistes, ont été généralement caractérisées par des exclusions et des cloisonnements. L’économie s’intéresse principalement aux sociétés marchandes et capitalistes occidentales et mobilise des catégories à vocation universelle alors que l’ethnologie ou l’anthropologie prennent pour champ les sociétés « primitives » exotiques ou premières, et privilégient les catégories et représentations des acteurs. Le champ du...

The article reviews the book "Karl Polanyi: The Limits of the Market," by Gareth Dale.

The notion of “fictitious commodities” is not simply a convenient heterodox slogan to criticize the radical limits of any trade system and the analytical limits of the dominant theory. It is rather the foundation of the institutional perspectives that underlie all Karl Polanyi’s sociohistoric analyses. This article explains and articulates both the theoretical level using the institutional approach to commodities and a philosophical level using a broad definition of the economy. There is,...

Attempting to revitalize the substantive approach to economics in the tradition of K. Polanyi, this paper revives the neglected substantive theory of money's origins by Bernhard Laum and thus disputes the formal approaches that see the origins of money in the context of trade. A wide range of evidence, from archeological to etymological, is utilized to demonstrate that relations between men and God, carried out through the intermediary of state-religious authorities, played a causal role in...

This essay describes and interprets J. Ron Stanfield's analysis of Karl Polanyi. Stanfield has helped to clarify Polanyi's "double-movement" thesis by arguing that the double movement of self-regulating market forces and the protective response is essentially about freedom versus security. These insights provide an analysis that takes Polanyi into the twenty-first century by developing a theory of "reembedded globalization." This is not something that Polanyi experienced before his death in...

This paper examines the contributions of James Ronald Stanfield to social and political economy. We start the analysis with Stanfield's contribution to institution building through his education of PhD students, building a graduate program in political economy, and through the associations of social and political economy. Then we go on to scrutinise his creative developments and applications of the notions of economic surplus and social reproduction. This is followed by his extensive work on...

Under the guidance of a recrudescent nineteenth century ideology, the governance of the global economy has been profoundly altered in the past three decades; indeed, a veritable Great Capitalist Restoration has emerged. It is important to view the transitioning economies and emerging market economies as part of this massive shift in governance. The concept of economic surplus offers a useful perspective on the political economy of governance regimes. Karl Polanyi's post-Marxian view of lives...

A number of large-scale transformations have shaped the economy, polity and society of India over the past quarter century. This book provides a detailed account of three that are of particular importance: the advent of liberal economic reform, the ascendance of Hindu cultural nationalism, and the empowerment of historically subordinate classes through popular democratic mobilizations. Filling a gap in existing literature, the book goes beyond looking at the transformations in isolation,...

A fundamental principle of Karl Polanyi's institutional outlook is that any economic system has to be considered as a whole and as a historically specific social organization. This principle implies a comparative method and a critique of conventional economics. Besides, the problem of the interrelation between the economic system and other aspects of social life cannot be avoided. On this basis, Polanyi points out the peculiar "economic" nature of the market-capitalist society and explains...

"Cette étude présente le parcours intellectuel de Karl Polanyi (1886-1964), à la croisée de l'économie, de l'histoire et de la sociologie, et propose une synthèse de l'ensemble de son oeuvre." Postface accessible en ligne : [ http://www.contretemps.eu/lectures/bonnes-feuilles-avez-vous-lu-polanyi-j%C3%A9r%C3%B4me-maucourant-postface ]

The dominant approach of CSR is based on the concept of "stakeholders" (R. E. Freeman). More than a theory, it is a slogan which irrigates as much the scientific discourse as the manager and political discourses. We can make two readings of this slogan. The first one, which is very reducing for us, consists on the deconstruction of the firm as institution and its replacement by a market representation based on bilateral exchanges between rational individuals. The second one, more promising...

O ensaio aborda a importância da redescoberta do pensamento de Karl Polanyi e de sua crítica à "sociedade de mercado" na retomada dos estudos e debates sobre o desenvolvimento (rural). Após uma apresentação geral do quadro teórico e analítico de Polanyi, buscamos utilizar seus conceitos para interpretar a dinâmica da mercantilização dos meios de vida e das formas sociais de trabalho e produção no espaço rural, bem como dos sistemas agroalimentares no capitalismo contemporâneo. Com base...

An attempt was made to sum up the basic socio-economic issues in Karl Polanyi's book "The Great Transformation", which is less known by the economists in our country. Suggesting an alternative to Marx's market economic analysis at the early stages of establishing and imposing the capitalist social system, this significant work of Polanyi questions at the same time a lot of the postulates of the modern liberal economic doctrines. The study highlights the formation of free market not as a...