Sociology 323 Economy & Society Class 2 – What is an Economy?

Sociology 323

Economy & Society

Class 2 – What is an Economy?

Why is it Important to Understand how Economic

Systems Work?

Every society has had, and will continue to have an economic system of sort (Polanyi, 2001)

The structure of an economic system significantly affects the well being of a society, the individuals in a

society and the biosphere (Bookchin, 2007).

What is an Economy?

The global economic system consists of a diverse array of political and economic actors of various scales, that, together, manage the production, consumption and distribution of commodities. Presently, the capitalist world system is the largest economy and the household is the smallest.

- Originally referred to household management. - The economy refers to the management of resources in a society. - The economy refers to capital production and circulation - The economy refers to the labour force of a society.- Economic activity refers to a series of processes.

What is an Economy?

Aristotle (1944) differentiated between two forms of economic systems:

Oikonomia, the art of household management Natural form of economics

Chrematistics, the art of acquisition Unnatural and problematic because it leads to limitless accumulation

Economy refers to a Process of Capital

Circulation

What does an economic system

consist of?

Every economic system consists of an array of:

– reciprocity, redistribution, householding, and market practices (Polanyi, 2001);

– they include market, non-market and alternative market, transactions, labour and enterprises (Gibson-Graham, 2006);

– and they exist through three systems: private, public and self-help/mutual social purpose (Pearce, 2009).

Ways to Study Economic Systems

The study of economic systems is a multi-disciplinary topic.

- Political Science- Psychology- Economics- Business- Sociology- History- Geography- Communications- Gender Studies- Anthropology- Environmental Studies- Philosophy

Ways to Study Economic Systems

Political Economy - History- Political systems- Philosophy- International relations

Economics- Psychology- Statistics- Positivism

Microeconomics: The study of the economic behaviour of individual “agents” such as particular companies, workers, or households.

Macroeconomics: The study of aggregate economic indicators such as GDP growth, employment, unemployment, and inflation.

Critical Approach- Class systems- Poverty- Feminism- Marxism- Utopianism- Wealth Distribution

Ways to Study Economic Systems

Ontology – The study of how things come into being.

Dialectic theory – Focuses on processes, conflict and transformation. A thesis is pitted against its antithesis and resolves to form something new.

Epistemology – Theory of knowledge. How we know what we know about the social world.

Reflexive Epistemology – Knowledge is mutually produced through interactions between researchers and the people (or things) they learn from.

Positivism – Observing and measuring phenomena (scientific method).

Historical Sociology – The study of historical events and their consequences.

Nomothetic - The study of scientific laws.

AMONG MANY OTHERS!!!

Understanding Economic Processes!

The point is...There are many ways of understanding economic

processes! You will have a different understanding of how

economic systems work depending on which lens you are

looking through.

Debate Topic!

How do you currently view the economy?