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Bringing the Social Back into Economies: Progress or Reductionism?

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  • Fine, B.

Abstract

Section 2 of this paper suggests that economics has long sought to colonise other social sciences. It has, however, only achived limites success because of its alien methods and its need to take the social as given. Section 3 argues that there is now a newer version of economic imperialism drawing upon the new microfoundation principles associated with information imperfections. In view of rational response to market imperfections, these purport to be able to explain the social whether the latter be non-economic or collective forms of behaviour. Section 4 presents illustrations of the way in which imperialism is bringing the social back into its analysis, drawing in broad brush rather than detail upon the new economic sociology, the new institutional economics, the new economic history, the new development economics, and the all-embracing notion of social capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Fine, B., 2000. "Bringing the Social Back into Economies: Progress or Reductionism?," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 731, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:731
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    File URL: http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/wpapers-00-01/731.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    SOCIETY ; SOCIALISM ; ECONOMIC THEORY;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
    • A00 - General Economics and Teaching - - General - - - General
    • B00 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - General - - - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General

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