Eisenstadt on Civilizations and Multiple Modernity
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 499-508
ISSN: 1461-7137
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In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 499-508
ISSN: 1461-7137
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 427-442
ISSN: 1461-7137
The concept of social capital has become more important in understanding contemporary economic development in the era of globalization. This concept, however, requires a theoretical framework that could help to distinguish between forms of social capital with positive effects on local development and other forms that may have negative consequences. This article argues that in order to understand this difference, two conditions are crucial. First, social capital has to be considered in terms of social relations and social networks, rather than in terms of culture and civicness. The second condition is that the interaction between social capital and other institutions, especially political institutions, has to be carefully analysed. Therefore, this article points to the crucial role of political factors - of the `embedded autonomy' of political action - in favouring a positive role of social capital in local economic development.
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 530-531
ISSN: 1461-7137
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 519-525
ISSN: 1461-7137
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 509-517
ISSN: 1461-7137
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 443-458
ISSN: 1461-7137
Economic knowledge is an important element of modern society and an important topic for sociologists interested in the reflexive dimensions of social life. However, economic knowledge cannot be reduced to economic theory; following a Weberian approach, this article distinguishes between economic theory (either formally rational or materially rational), material economic thought and popular economic representations. The article then examines how economic knowledge affects economic behaviour; and finally, it considers the cultural dimension of economic knowledge when `calculative agencies' help actors to implement formal economic theory.
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 527-530
ISSN: 1461-7137
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 459-478
ISSN: 1461-7137
The concepts of nature and nation are both rooted in the notion of birth. Thus both can be conceived anew if the underlying vision of natality is conceptualized, following Hannah Arendt, not as a set of inexorable biological processes, but as the fundamental human capacity for political action. This reconceptualization of natality allows proposing an alternative to the prevalent commonsensical ethno-nationalist definitions of nation-hood, and also allows a view of the realm of nature itself as inherently political. Arendt's theory finds an interesting referential point in modern developments in biotechnology that threaten to undermine the `naturalness' of existing notions of ethnically conceived nations. Similarly, nature might be revealed to have a polis working at the very heart of what seemed to be a set of inexorable processes, independent from human beings.
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 387-403
ISSN: 1461-7137
The inner affinity of money and religion has been a central issue of the `classical' theories of money, in particular of Georg Simmel and Karl Marx. The paper argues that the conceptualizations of money in current economic sociology and mainstream economic theory are deficient, and that a more promising approach can be developed by referring to those classical authors, whose thinking was not yet dominated by the institutionalized academic division of labour between sociology and economics of today. It is shown, how the concept of money as `Vermögen' (Simmel) or as `capital' (Marx) can be combined with current constructivist theories of economic `myths' and `visions', thus opening a new perspective for sociological analysis of entrepreneurship, innovation, economic growth and social change.
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 531-535
ISSN: 1461-7137
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 479-497
ISSN: 1461-7137
Investigating the neo-Kantian origins of structuralism and culturalism, this article analyses the development of Cassirer's thought by following his intellectual progression from knowledge to culture, and from culture to praxis. The article is in two parts. In the first part, the author presents an analysis of Cassirer's relational conception of knowledge. In the second part, the critique of knowledge is superseded by a critique of culture. The author analyses Cassirer's anthropological philosophy of symbolic forms and critically compares it to Simmel's vitalist theory of culture. The article ends with a plea for a practical sociology inspired by Cassirer's return to Kant's practical philosophy.
In: European journal of social theory, Band 4, Heft 4, S. 405-425
ISSN: 1461-7137
This article introduces a framework which aims at capturing the complexity of economic organizations. The analysis of most legitimate conventions of coordination results in a new approach to the firm as a compromising device between several modes of coordination which engage different repertoires of evaluation. This contribution to the Économie des conventions offers an analytical tool to operate comparative research on firms, intermediate regulatory committees or public policies.
In: European Journal of Political Economy, Band 17, Heft 3, S. 493-516
In: European Journal of Political Economy, Band 17, Heft 3, S. 633-639
In: European Journal of Political Economy, Band 17, Heft 3, S. 531-555