Economic Sociology

Conceptual Overview

As opposed to mainstream economics, which is based on microeconomics, economic sociology lacks a closely interrelated set of basic concepts. Instead it draws on a series of concepts and ideas that come from different traditions in sociology, such as Marxism, Weberian sociology, organizational sociology, and the sociology of work. A central role is played by the work of Karl Polanyi, whose concepts are used by a large number of people who are currently active in economic sociology.

If one were to single out three central figures in economic sociology, whose works have deeply influenced the field and are still being drawn upon, it would be Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Karl Polanyi. Marx introduced, first of all, the idea of capitalism as a social system with its own internal motor in the form of a search for ever more profit. He also invented the notion of class struggle, caused by the organization of labor and factors of production, and more generally the idea that social structures are deeply influenced by economic factors. Firms as such play little role in Marx's work, however, and the reader of Capital will only find references to factories and the impersonal figure of the capitalist.

Weber laid a conceptual foundation for economic sociology in Economy and Society (1978), especially in the chapter entitled “Sociological Categories of Economic Action.” Weber suggests that the basic analytical unit of economic sociology is economic social action or economic action that is oriented to other actors. This unit is then used to construct other and more complex categories in Weber's economic sociology. When two actors orient their actions to one another, for example a buyer and a seller, a social and economic relationship is formed. Social and economic relationships can be open or closed, with a local fruit and vegetable market illustrating the former and a modern profession the latter. Closed economic relationships turn into firms when they are oriented to a set of economic goals to be realized, and when there is a staff to see to it this gets done. Economic systems that are centered on the idea of a household (such as feudalism or socialism) tend to be static, while those that are centered on profit making (where capitalism is the prime example) tend to be dynamic.

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