Beyond the market: the social foundations of economic efficiency

376 Pages·2.165 MB·English

by  Beckert, Jens

BEYOND THE MARKET
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J en s B e ck er t
BEYOND THE MARKET
THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF
ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
Translated by Barbara Harshav
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
ENGLISHTRANSLATIONCOPYRIGHT©2002BYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS
PUBLISHEDBYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS,41WILLIAMSTREET,
PRINCETON,NEWJERSEY08540
INTHEUNITEDKINGDOM:PRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS,
3MARKETPLACE,WOODSTOCK,OXFORDSHIREOX201SY
ORIGINALLYPUBLISHEDINGERMANASGRENZENDESMARKTES:
DIESOZIALENGRUNDLAGENWIRTSCHAFTLICHEREFFIZIENZ
©1997BYCAMPUSVERLAG
ALLRIGHTSRESERVED
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
BECKERT,JENS,1967–[GRENZENDESMARKTES.ENGLISH]
BEYONDTHEMARKET:THESOCIALFOUNDATIONSOFECONOMIC
EFFICIENCY/JENSBECKERT;TRANSLATEDBYBARBARAHARSHAV.
P.CM.
ORIGINALLYPUBLISHEDAS:GRENZENDESMARKTES.
INCLUDESBIBLIOGRAPHICALREFERENCESANDINDEX.
ISBN0-691-04907-6
1. ECONOMICS—SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS. 2. DECISION MAKING—SOCIAL ASPECTS. I.
TITLE.
HM548.B436132002
306.3'4—DC21 2001058064
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATAISAVAILABLE
THISBOOKHASBEENCOMPOSEDINBERKELEYBOOKMODIFIEDTYPEFACE
PRINTEDONACID-FREEPAPER.∞
WWW.PUP.PRINCETON.EDU
PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
CONTENTS
PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION 1
PARTONE:CRITIQUE 5
ONE
TheLimitsoftheRational-ActorModelasa
MicrofoundationofEconomicEfficiency 7
Cooperation 18
Uncertainty 36
Innovation 50
PARTTWO:CONCEPTS 67
TWO
E´mileDurkheim:TheEconomyasMoralOrder 69
SociologyastheScienceofMorality 74
Durkheim’sCritiqueofEconomics 76
EconomicInstitutionsasMoralFacts 81
AnomieandForcedDivisionofLabor 114
StabilizingEconomicRelationswith
ProfessionalGroups 119
CooperationandMorality 122
Appendix:SystematizingtheViewof
theEconomyinSociologicalTheory:Durkheimthrough
WebertoParsons 125
THREE
TalcottParsons:TheEconomyasaSubsystemofSociety 133
EconomicandSociologicalTheoryinParsons’sEarlyWork 135
TheEconomyastheAdaptiveSubsystemofSociety 149
TheBoundaryProcessesoftheEconomy 156
TheInstitutionalEstablishmentofEconomicRationality 192
CooperationandInterpenetration 197
FOUR
NiklasLuhmann:TheEconomyasaAutopoieticSystem 201
TheSelf-ReferentialityoftheEconomy 207
vi CONTENTS
TheReentryoftheExcludedThirdParty 216
SystemandAction 233
FIVE
AnthonyGiddens:ActorandStructurein
EconomicAction 241
InterpretationandStructurationofEconomicAction 256
CooperationandReflextivity 259
InnovationandCreativity 269
PARTTHREE:CONCLUSIONS 283
SIX
PerspectivesforEconomicSociology 285
NOTES 297
BIBLIOGRAPHY 327
INDEX 347
PREFACE
THIS BOOK began in a seminar given by Robert Heilbroner and
Ross Thompson at the New School for Social Research in the
autumn of 1990. Titled “The Autonomy of Economic Life,” the
seminarexaminedtherelationshipoftheeconomyandsocietyaswellas
thatofeconomicsandothersocialsciences.Eversincethen,Ihavebeen
interested in these subjects. I am grateful first to Hans Joas, who super-
vised the work, encouraging the clarification of conceptual issues. In
many respects, my thinking has been deeply influenced by the work of
HansJoasandourmanyconversations.IwouldalsoliketothankHeiner
Ganssmann, Wolfgang Kno¨bl, Claus Offe, Harald Wenzel, and Dietrich
Winterhager,who readthe entirebook orindividual chaptersand made
helpful remarks. My thanks tothe Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
for financial assistance. I wrote most of the dissertation in the academic
year1994–95asaVisitingResearchFellowintheDepartmentofSociol-
ogyofPrincetonUniversity,wheretheidealworkingconditionswerean
essential advantage for the progress of the book. For making this stay
bothpossibleandintellectuallystimulatingIshouldliketothankthede-
partment,particularlyPaulDiMaggioandVivianaZelizer.Iamgrateful
to the Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz Foundation for a stipend during
myyearinPrinceton.VolkerBien,KarinGoihl,andAnne-ChristinMuth
helped with literature and preparation of the final manuscript. Last but
notleast,thankstomywifeFarzanehAlizadehforallhersupportduring
thenotalwayseasyphasesofthewritingprocess.Thebookisdedicated
tothememoryofmyfather.
Berlin,July1997
Note: For the English translation, the chapter on Durkheim has been
slightlyabridged,whilesomenewmaterialhasbeenaddedtothechapter
on Giddens and to the conclusions. The other parts of the manuscript
remainunchanged,exceptforsomecorrectionsintheinterestoflegibility.
Permission from Kluwer Publishers for using material from my article
“Whatissociologicalabouteconomicsociology?Uncertaintyandtheem-
beddedness of economic action” (Theory and Society 25: 803-840) is
gratefullyacknowledged.
Cambridge,Mass.,February2002
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BEYOND THE MARKET