Download Syllabus Economic Sociology 201617

Syllabus 2016/17
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Module
Economic Sociology and European Capitalism (JSB455/JSM018)
Location
Charles University
Date
October – December 2016
Teacher
Dr. Paul Blokker, Charles University
Credits
8
Course
The module provides an introduction to economic sociology, discussed in the
Description context of European capitalism. The emphasis is triple: 1) economic sociology’s
emergence as a sub-field of sociology and its recent growing into a prominent field
within sociology, 2) a discussion of varieties of (democratic) capitalism in Europe,
and 3) an analytical focus on the transnational, European economy. The course
focusses on the sociological study of economic phenomena, the exploration of
different types of European capitalism, and the analysis of transnational marketmaking in the EU. It will both pay attention to contributions of classic sociologists
to reflecting on and analysing the economy, the market, and capitalism, as well as
focus on recent developments and new theoretical avenues. The main sociological
approaches to the economy will be reviewed, an introduction will be provided to
the basic conceptual and heuristic tools used in economic sociology, and new
ways of researching the interaction between the economy and the market, on the
one hand, and society, on the other, will be explored.
A variety of empirical cases regarding both European societies and the European
integration project will be discussed.
Goal of the
Course
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To introduce the students to the way sociology can contribute to
understanding the economy, the market, and capitalism;
The sociological analysis of European democratic capitalism in its varieties
and transformation;
The sociological analysis of the European economy and its relation to
European institutions;
To explore different ways in which the economy is related to, and embedded
in, society;
To help students develop a set of critical skills to analyse the economy and
capitalism;
To create a basis for the analysis of social change and the relations between
market mechanisms, political institutions, solidarity and communitarian
structures;
To stimulate understanding of different forms of capitalism, and the historical
and contextual basis of capitalist economies.
Teaching
Lectures
methodology In-class debate
Media materials
EU-simulations
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Final exam
Final essay:
Undergraduate level: 2000 words + 5 scholarly references
MA level: 3000 words + 10 scholarly references
Schedule
I. Introduction to economic sociology and European capitalism
The module starts off with a general introduction to economic sociology and a
concise history of capitalism in Europe. Economic sociology will be discussed in
terms of its historical development and key problématiques and concepts, main
theoretical approaches/traditions, the nature and philosophical assumptions of
economic sociology. European capitalism will be discussed in terms of the processes
of industrialization and modernization.
Readings (undergraduate and MA)
Knick Harley, C. (2013), ‘British and European Industrialization’, in: Cambridge
History of Capitalism, Vol. 1, Edited by Larry Neal and Jeffrey Williamson.
Smelser, Neil and Richard Swedberg (2005), ‘Introducing Economic Sociology’, in:
Handbook of Economic Sociology, Princeton University Press.
Class 1: Classical sociology and economy-society relations
Class 2: Sociology, economic sociology and economics
II. The social embeddedness of economies
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This section will discuss the work of Karl Polanyi (a recently much discussed thinker)
and his ideas on the embeddedness of the economy in society and his understanding
of the three principles of resource allocation and the three ways in which these are
implemented: markets, hierarchies and networks. Also different levels and modes of
embeddedness/disembeddedness of economies, different forms of cooperation, and
types of governance will be discussed.
Readings (undergraduate and MA)
Beckert, Jens (2007), 'The Great Transformation of Embeddedness: Karl Polanyi
and
the
New
Economic
Sociology',
http://econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/19938/1/dp07-1.pdf.
Polanyi, K. (1944), The Great Transformation, selected readings.
Readings (MA)
Caporaso, James A., and Sidney Tarrow. "Polanyi in Brussels: supranational
institutions and the transnational embedding of markets." International
Organization 63.04 (2009): 593-620.
Class 3: The social embeddedness of the economy
Class 4: The relevance of Polanyi today
III. European Varieties of Capitalism
The third section discusses a relevantly recent discussion on different types or
varieties of (European) capitalism. The main two types distinguished are AngloSaxon and Rhineland capitalism, referring to the UK and Germany, but particularly
from a sociological view it becomes clear that economies need to be studied in their
specific historical and societal context. Particular attention will be paid to how
different relations between market and society are institutionalized in different
European economies and to how varieties of capitalism play a significant role in the
European integration process.
Readings (undergraduate and MA)
Hall, Peter A., and David Soskice (2001) (eds), ‘An introduction to varieties of
capitalism’, in: idem. Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of
comparative advantage, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-70.
Höpner, Martin, and Armin Schäfer. "Integration among unequals: How the
heterogeneity of European varieties of capitalism shapes the social and democratic
potential of the EU." (2012).
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Class 5: Varieties of capitalism in Europe
Class 6: East-West differences
IV. Economic repertoires, political rationalities, and European economic
integration
The fourth section explores a new set of approaches to economic sociology. A highly
promising and innovative approach to study the cognitive and cultural
embeddedness of economic activity is the ‘economics of conventions’ approach (for
an overview, see Diaz-Bone & Thévenot, Jagd 2007). Conventions, and related
concepts such as habits, customs, routines, and standard practices, can be
understood as ‘understandings, often tacit but also conscious, that organize and
coordinate action in predictable ways. Theorists of conventions explain economic
order as the product of socially knowledgeable actors working within collective
understandings of what is possible, probable, and likely to result in fiscal and social
gain and loss’ (Biggart & Beamish 2003: 444). The economics of convention
perspective can be usefully applied to look at European capitalism(-s), marketmaking, and the European Social Model.
Readings (undergraduate and MA)
Biggart, Nicole Woolsey and Thomas D. Beamish (2003), ‘The Economic Sociology
of Conventions: Habit, Custom, Practice, and Routine in Market’, in: Annual
Review of Sociology, Vol. 29 (2003), pp. 443-464.
Davies, William. "When Is a Market Not a Market?: ‘Exemption’, ‘Externality’and
‘Exception’ in the Case of European State Aid Rules." Theory, Culture & Society
(2013): 0263276412456567.
Readings (MA)
Pichierri, Angelo. "Social cohesion and economic competitiveness. Tools for
analyzing the European model." European Journal of Social Theory 16.1 (2013):
85-100.
Class 7 : The economics of conventions
Class 8 : The spirit(-s) of European capitalism
V. Economic sociology and the economic crisis in Europe
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The economic crisis that has come to the fore in Europe since 2007 has revealed
the fragile nature of global capitalism but also the ‘strange non-death’ of the main
ideological justification for capitalism ‘neo-liberalism’. Economic sociology can play
an important role in studying both the reasons for and consequences of the economic
crisis, but also help to shed critical light on the apparent absence of structural
alternatives to a free-market based form of capitalism.
Readings (undergraduate and MA)
Blokker, P. (2014), 'The European Crisis and a Political Critique of Capitalism',
special issue “Europe in Crisis”, European Journal of Social Theory, 17(3).
Readings (MA)
Streeck, Wolfgang (2013), "The crisis in context: Democratic capitalism and its
contradictions." Politics in the Age of Austerity. Cambridge: Polity, pp. 262-286.
Class 9: Economic sociology and the crisis of capitalism
Class 10: Sociology, the market, and society
Class 11+12: The future of European capitalism
Further and recommended resources
“Economic Discourses and Economic Dispositives”, issue of economic sociology, the
european
electronic
newsletter,
14:2,
available
at:
http://econsoc.mpifg.de/archive/econ_soc_14-2.pdf.
Boltanski, Luc and Ève Chiapello (2005 [1999]) The New Spirit of Capitalism, trans.
Gregory Elliott, London: Verso.
Diaz-Bone, Rainer. "Economics of convention." KOLNER ZEITSCHRIFT FUR
SOZIOLOGIE UND SOZIALPSYCHOLOGIE (2009): 176-+.
Du Gay, Paul, and Glenn Morgan (2014) (eds.), New Spirits of Capitalism?: Crises,
Justifications, and Dynamics. Oxford University Press.
Fligstein, Neil (2001), The architecture of markets: An economic sociology of twentyfirst-century capitalist societies, Princeton University Press.
Smelser, Neil J., and Richard Swedberg (eds) (2010), The handbook of economic
sociology, Princeton university press.
Streeck, Wolfgang (2013), "The crisis in context: Democratic capitalism and its
contradictions." Politics in the Age of Austerity. Cambridge: Polity, pp. 262-286.
Streeck, Wolfgang (2014), Buying time: The delayed crisis of democratic capitalism.
Verso Books.
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