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The concept of embeddedness has gained much prominence in economic geography over the last decade, as much work has been done on the social and organizational foundations of economic activities and regional development. Unlike the original conceptualizations, however, embeddedness is mostly conceived of as a 'spatial' concept related to the local and regional levels of analysis. By revisiting the early literature on embeddedness - in particular the seminal work of Karl Polanyi and Mark...

The evolution of teaching is examined in three stages: apprenticeship, classical schooling, and mass schooling. All three stages use different social technologies to operate. The mass schooling is analyzed from the point of view of economic anthropology developed by Karl Polanyi, as a non-market economic system. Mass schooling uses the forms of motivation found in archaic, tribal economies: students do their homework and attend school out of considerations of reciprocity. Schools must be...

This article examines the relevance of the Karl Polanyi's contributions to economics in general and to the issue of endogeneity of human preferences in particular. Although Polanyi never spoke of endogenous preferences, one can capture in his work a vision of the historical specificity and institutional dependence of human purposes and reasons for behavior. It is undeniable that in Polanyi there is a certain tendency to overlook human volition and to fall into a kind of institutional...

We come to an analysis of Third Worldism through an historical understanding of the development project, one that locates Third Worldism as a moment in a broader series of resistances both to capital and colonialism, and to the techniques used by the state to maintain hegemony. Viewing Third Worldism in this wider context, we argue, enables us to not only explain the failure of Third Worldism to deliver on its vision of emancipation from colonialism, but to also explain the shape of...

This paper outlines a framework for understanding social exclusion that is multidimensional, dynamic, multi-leveled, and relational. Inspired by Polanyi's classification of the modes of economic inclusion, we propose that social inclusion and exclusion processes are rooted in four types of social relations: market (exchange and barter), bureaucratic (rational-legal), associative (common interest), and communal (complex reciprocity and shared identity). Each type reflects different, but...

This article presents information related to market transactions. As a mode of organization, markets are so pervasive in our own lives that it may be hard to think just how novel and contingent (in geologic time) they may be. It was economist Karl Polanyi who sought to isolate a juncture in this process of "becoming a market", the point at which the idea of the market transaction becomes not just a tool or an instrument, but a central organizing principle of social life. But it is not clear...

Santhi Hejeebu and Deirdre McCloskey's rebuttal to Karl Polanyi's Great Transformation begs several important questions. Yes, commerce can be found throughout human history--but is that the same as saying that people have been equally capitalistic at all times? If not, then how did modern capitalism come into being? Hejeebu and McCloskey portray capitalism as having evolved gradually, indeed quite naturally, rather than being a contingent product of politics. Not inconsistently, Hejeebu and...

This article argues, within the context of Karl Polanyi's work, that the common view of Chile is doubly miscontrued, in terms of free market economics. Events since the end of the dictatorship (1989) tend to confirm Polanyi's hypothesis in 'The Great Transformation' (1957; discussed in the following section) while at the same time negating the Chicago School's view that a free market society could be built--even under a dictatorship. In Chile from September 1973 onward through 1989, the...

The article presents the shared vision of Polanyi and Heilbroner. This paper focuses on the parallel ideas of economists Karl Polanyi and Robert Heilbroner. Their concept on the role of market system in the emergence of economics as a field of study is explained. More issues included are the requirements for the transformation of a pre-market society into a true market, Polanyi's influence to several economists, and relevance of the Polanyi/Heilbroner vision of the market system to the...

The ideas of Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation have often been referred to in the recent debates that have emerged as a reaction to the rise of neoliberal policies. This paper deals with contradictory interpretations of the notion of social protectionism in the work of Karl Polanyi. There are two opposing interpretations distinguished here. The first interprets social protectionism as a balancing principle of economic liberalism. The second understands social protectionism as a part of...

Mark Blyth's rebuttal to our constructive critique of Polanyi "blithely" takes for granted the accuracy of Polanyi's now-outdated historiography of capitalism--by means of a loose, overly expansive definition of capitalism that question-beggingly equates it with modernity. Blyth emphasizes the need to view markets as "socially embedded," with which we agree--but he appears not to take account of the individual self-interest that is thus embedded. Similarly, he asserts a priori the role of...

This conversation, transcribed from a conference in April 2002, is intended to illuminate current debates about the use and abuse of the embeddedness concept in economic sociology.

Few would have predicted the rapid progress of the EU in developing common economic institutions 20 or 30 years ago, although many commentators might have foreseen the relatively slow development of convergent social policies. This paper sets the European debate in the context of the path-breaking work of Polanyi and Schumpeter at the end of the Second World War. It argues that the economic institutions of the EU are at least as important as the social policy institutions in understanding...

The hegemony of neoliberalism now poses a fundamental challenge to planners worldwide. Most influential in this regard has been Francis Fukuyama's 'end of history' ideology and its progenies - or mutations - such as the Third Way. A close reading of their proponents (especially Anthony Giddens) and critics (Perry Anderson, Pierre Bourdieu, Alex Callinicos, John Gray and others) with reference to the contrasting political-economic theories of Friedrich von Hayek and Karl Polanyi, however,...

Towards an Inclusive Democracy, it is argued, offers a powerful new interpretation of the history and destructive dynamics of the market and provides an inspiring new vision of the future in place of both neo-liberalism and existing forms of socialism. It is shown how this work synthesizes and develops Karl Polanyi's characterization of the relationship between society and the market and Cornelius Castoriadis' philosophy of autonomy. A central component of Fotopoulos' argument is that social...

This article compares Mexico and India's experiences with neoliberalism to propose that the collapse of the development state generates countermovements. In both nations, neoliberalism is associated with the decline of the one-party deminant system, and a restructuring of civil society. Variations emerge in the timing of democratization in these countries. In India, democratization preceded neoliberal reforms, whereas in Mexico democratization followed neoliberal reforms, but in both cases...

Revisits the debt peonage debate, central to understanding Latin American transitions to capitalism, particularly in Diormo, Granada, Nicaragua. Differences between capitalist and noncapitalist societies according to Karl Polanyi and Robert Brenner; Land peasantry in Diriomo; Legislation enacted to compel peasants to work in plantation agriculture.

Polanyi argued that the project of creating a fully self-regulating market was utopian, in the sense of impossible. However, movement towards this utopia, the ever greater but never completed process of disembedding the economy from both society and nature, creates growing dislocations and tensions which call forth a counter movement. This double movement may be thought of as successive changes in the way in which the economic process is instituted. The focus of the paper is on the meaning...

Presents views of scholar Karl Polanyi on economic integration. Views of Polanyi on modern capitalist society; Distinction between external, local and internal markets by Polanyi. The three forms of economic integration include reciprocity, redistribution, and exchange. The article discusses Polyani's book "The Great Transformation," the development of market economies, the self-regulating market, some of the writings of Max Weber, big businesses, the efficiency of the market system, and...

Presents the perspective of philosopher Karl Polanyi on economic change. Works of Polanyi on the topic; Analysis of pre-modern economies by Polanyi. According to Jeffrey Nugent, institutions make social life fairly predictable by restricting some actions and providing incentives for other actions. The article discusses Polanyi's book "The Great Transformation," the self-regulating market economy, scarcity, individual choice, economic development in India, trust in India's corporate...