Deviations in Modern Capitalism: On the Embeddedness of Economic Practice in the 19th and 20th Centuries - Detailseite

In is commonplace to consider Western Europe and North America as the birthplace of Modern Capitalism – and either praise or demonize the fundamental changes in the economy since the Early Modern Period.

Notwithstanding their diversity, most concepts of capitalism agree that a central feature of Modern Capitalism is the emergence of an economic logic that is at least relatively autonomous from its social, political and cultural context. Instead of being structured by the demands of political institutions or cultural and social needs, it is the economy that transforms social relations and continues to expand the allocation of labour, land etc. through markets.

However, a historical perspective reveals many deviations from this common perception of what Modern Capitalism is; be it the co-operative movement, economic practices in communes, or simply the ongoing importance of family and kinship in the modern economic world. Thus, scholars such as sociologist Mark Granovetter consider the social and cultural “embeddedness” of economic practices as essential to understand how the modern economy actually works, shifting the focus of historical research on the economy to its social context.

In this course, we will take a closer look at these alternative forms of economic practices and investigate the relevance of concepts such as the “embeddedness” of the economy in its social and cultural context. The course will have to parts: We will first look at the scholarly literature on modernity and capitalism in general. The second part will focus on specific cases of “deviations“ from mainstream perceptions of Modern Capitalism, such as the Kibbuz, communes, or religious communities.