The Elusive Market: Embeddedness and the Paradigm of Economic Sociology

Critiques the notion of 'embeddedness' as a paradigm for economic sociology, suggesting that while the concept proved useful during the subfield's productive first decade and a half, it may now be appropriate to explore the implications of the way the concept has been developed and de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory and society 2001-12, Vol.30 (6), p.775-810
Main Author: Krippner, Greta R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cultural customs
Economic activity
Economic research
Economic Sociology
Economic systems
Economic Theories
Economic theory
Market Economy
Markets
Neoclassical economics
Parsons, Talcott
Polanyi, Karl Paul
Research trends
Social interaction
Social research
Social structures
Social theories
Socioeconomics
Sociological Theory
Sociology
Sociology of economy and development
Theoretical Problems
Theory Formation
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Summary:Critiques the notion of 'embeddedness' as a paradigm for economic sociology, suggesting that while the concept proved useful during the subfield's productive first decade and a half, it may now be appropriate to explore the implications of the way the concept has been developed and deployed within economic sociology. Suggests that the concept of embeddedness has contributed to the lack of an adequate theorization of the market in economic sociology. As long as the market is not fully appropriated as a social object, there will be a tension between marketless conceptions of the social and conceptions of economy in which every social trace is suppressed. In either case, economic sociology will find itself in the paradoxical position of propping up the asocial market model of neoclassical economics. Where such paradoxes abound, rethinking the central premises of the discipline becomes an arduous and pressing task. (Quotes from original text)
ISSN:0304-2421
1573-7853
DOI:10.1023/A:1013330324198