Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, Spring 1998
Current version posted on January 14, 1998
office hours: Wed 2-3pm at LSH B207 or by appt.
phone: 445-2435 or 932-1367
email: jborocz@rci.rutgers.edu
This is a graduate reading seminar in economic sociology. It is designed to build the foundations of conceptual and analytical competence in this exciting field by (i) sampling some of the classical work that is most relevant to our contemporary concerns in the area, (ii) focussing on the much-debated problem of economic institutions, and (iii) examining a selection of other topics of importance in economic sociological research (modernization, [under]development, informality, etc.). It involves brief weekly presentations designed to initiate debate, discussions of the readings,(1) and József's occasional summaries of contextual and background info. Class discussion--a scholarly-intellectual give-and-take--is the most important component of this course. You are required to come completely prepared, including a thorough, "quality-time" reading of the texts and a mature, constructive, active and intellectually exciting agenda.
You are responsible for preparing a one-page, typed outline (a sketch focussing on key concepts,
definitions, ideas, a heuristic conceptual comparison table, etc.) of what you consider to be the
"essence" of the work discussed during the given week. Bring them to class in as many copies as
the number of the people in it: We will distribute the notes at the beginning. They serve as (1)
basis for in-class discussions, (2) reminder of some of the crucial components of the material for
your future reference. Grading is based on a judicious combination of class participation and the
paper.
Paper:
Develop a maximum 5000-word (20 single side, double-space pages with a 10-cpi font, 1-inch margins ) research paper on a topic which falls within the broadly-conceived subject matter of the course. Book reviews are not acceptable. The purpose of the paper is to use intelligently and creatively some sociological ideas regarding economic phenomena, broadly construed. Its final version is due on the last day of classes. Hand in a one-paragraph outline of the paper as soon as possible but no later than the sixth class. (Please do use my office hours to discuss possible topics and approaches.) You may submit your outline via email (see my address above).
Schedule
no readings this week
main reading:
Swedberg, Richard. 1990. Economics and Sociology. Redefining their Boundaries:
Conversations with Economists and Sociologists. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
other readings:
Hirsch, Paul, Stuart Michaels, and Ray Friedman. 1990. "Clean Models vs. Dirty Hands: Why
Economics Is Different from Sociology." Pp. 39-56. in Zukin, Sharon and Paul DiMaggio (eds.)
Structures of Capital. The Social Organization of the Economy. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge
Smelser, Neil J. and Richard Swedberg. 1994. "The Sociological Perspective on the Economy."
Pp. 3-26. in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Coleman, James. 1994. "A Rational Choice Perspective on Economic Sociology." Pp. 166-80. in
Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Pressman, S. and V. Montecinos. 1996. "The Handbook of Economic Sociology." Journal of Economic Issues. 30, 3(Sep):877-84.
readings:
Marx, Karl. 1964 (1844). The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Ed. by Dirk
Struyk. International Publishers.
Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. 1978 (1848). Manifesto of the Communist Party. London: Penguin.
main reading:
Baudrillard, Jean. 1981 (1972) For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign. St. Louis:
Telos Press.
other readings:
Poster, Mark. 1975. "Translator's Introduction." pp. 1-16. in Jean Baudrillard: The Mirror of
Production. Translated with "Introduction" by Mark Poster. St. Louis: Telos Press.
Poster, Mark. 1984. "Foucault and Sartre" and "Mode of Production, Mode of Information", pp. 1-43 and 44-69 in Mark Poster: Foucault, Marxism & History. Mode of Production versus Mode of Information. Cambridge: Polity Press.
reading:
Weber, Max. 1978(1922). "Sociological Categories of Economic Action." Economy and Society. An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Vol. I. University of California Press, Berkeley. Pp.63-206.
Commentary:
Collins, Randall. 1992. "Weber's Last Theory of Capitalism." Pp. 78-110. in Swedberg, Richard and Mark Granovetter (eds.) The Sociology of Economic Life. Westview Press, Boulder.
reading:
Durkheim, Emile. 1992 (1890-1900). Professional Ethics and Civic Morals. Routlege, NY.
Chapters XI-XVIII (pp. 121-220.)
further reading:
Parsons, Talcott. 1990(1934). "Prolegomena to a Theory of Social Institutions." American
Sociological Review, 55 (June):319-33.
Coleman, James S. 1990. "Commentary: Social Institutions and Social Theory." American Sociological Review, 55(June):333-9.
readings:
Mauss, Marcel. 1990(1925). The Gift. The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies.
With an introduction by Mary Douglas. W.W. Norton, New York.
Polányi, Karl. 1992(1957). "The Economy as Instituted Process." Pp. 29-51. in Swedberg,
Richard and Mark Granovetter (eds.) The Sociology of Economic Life. Westview Press, Boulder.
OR: in Karl Polanyi, Conrad M. Arensberg and Harry W. Pearson (eds.) 1957. Trade and
Market in the Early Empires. Economies in History and Theory. The Free Press, Glencoe, Ill.
Polányi, Karl. 1957 (1944). The Great Transformation. Boston: Beacon Press. ONLY the following chapters (cca. 130 pp.): 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
commentary:
Block, Fred and Margaret R. Somers. 1984. "Beyond the Economistic Fallacy: The Holistic Social Science of Karl Polanyi." Pp. 47-84. in Skocpol, Theda (ed.) Vision and Method in Historical Sociology. Cambridge UP, Cambridge.
readings:
Veblen, Thorstein. 1984(1939). Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution. With an introduction by Joseph Dorfman. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Only the following chapters:
V. Imperial Germany; VI. The Industrial Revolution in Germany; VII. The Economic Policy
of the Imperial State; VIII. The Net Gain;
Gerschenkron, Alexander. 1992(1952). "Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective." Pp.
111-130. in Swedberg, Richard and Mark Granovetter (eds.) The Sociology of Economic Life.
Westview Press, Boulder. OR: in Hoselitz, Burt (ed.) 1952. The Progress of Underdeveloped
Countries. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Sabel, Charles F. 1994. "Learning by Monitoring: The Institutions of Economic Development." Pp. 137-65. in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
additional reading:
Veblen, Thorstein. 1984(1939). Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution. With an introduction by Joseph Dorfman. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Chapters I through IV. (Introductory--Races and Peoples; The Old Order; The Dynastic State; The Case of England).
readings:
North, Douglass C. 1991. "Institutions." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1(Winter):97-112.
Williamson, Oliver. 1981. "The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach." American Journal of Sociology, 87(Nov) 548-77.
Williamson, Oliver. 1994. "Transaction Cost Economics and Organization Theory." Pp. 77-107. in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hodgson, Geoffrey M. 1994. "The Return of Institutional Economics." Pp. 58-76. in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
further reading:
North, Douglass C. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge University Press.
readings:
Granovetter, Mark. 1973. "The Strength of Weak Ties." American Journal of Sociology,
78,6:1360-80.
Granovetter, Mark. 1985. "Economic Action and Social Structure: the Problem of
Embeddedness." American Journal of Sociology, 91,3(November):481-510. Reprinted as pp. 53-81. in Granovetter, Mark and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Sociology of Economic Life.
Westview Press, Boulder.
Powell, Walter W. and Laurel Smith-Doerr. 1994. "Networks and Ecnomic Life." Pp. 368-402.
in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Swedberg, Richard. 1994. "Markets as Social Structures." Pp. 255-83. in Neil J. Smelser and
Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
Granovetter, Mark. 1994. "Business Groups." Pp. 453-75. in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
readings:
Gereffi, Gary. 1994. "The International Economy and Economic Development." Pp. 206-33. in
Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Kincaid, A. Douglas and Alejandro Portes. 1994 (1989). "Sociology and Development in the 1990s: Critical Challenges and Empirical Trends." Pp. 1-25. in Kincaid, A. Douglas and Alejandro Portes. (eds.) Comparative National Development. Society and Economy in the New Global Order. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. OR: Sociological Forum, 4,4:479-503.
Evans, Peter. 1994 (1990). "Predatory, Developmental, and Other Apparatuses: A Comparative
Political Economy Perspective on the Third World State.' Pp. 84-111. in Kincaid, A. Douglas
and Alejandro Portes. (eds.) Comparative National Development. Society and Economy in the
New Global Order. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill OR: Sociological Forum,
1990.
Escobar, Arturo. 1984. "Discourse and Power in Development: Michel Foucault and the
Relevance of His Work to the Third World." Alternatives, 10(3):377-400.
Cardoso, Fernando Henrique. 1977. "The Consumption of Dependency Theory in the United
States." Latin American Research Review, 12(3):7-25.
Portes, Alejandro. 1997. "Neoliberalism and the Sociology of Development: Emerging Trends and Unanticipated Facts." Population and Develpoment Review, 23,2:229-.
Readings:
Castells, Manuel. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge: Blackwell.
readings:
Portes, Alejandro and Saskia Sassen-Koob. 1987. "Making It Underground: Comparative
Material on the Informal Sector in Western Market Economies." American Journal of Sociology,
93,1(July):30-61.
Portes, Alejandro. 1994. "The Informal Economy and Its Paradoxes." Pp. 426-50. in Neil J.
Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.) The Handbook of Economic Sociology. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Portes, Alejandro and József Böröcz. 1988. "The Informal Sector under Capitalism and State
Socialism." Social Justice, 15,3-4:17-28.
Waldinger, R. and M. Lapp. 1993. "Back to the Sweatshop or Ahead to the Informal Sector."
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 17,1(Mar):6-29.
Böröcz, József. 1993. "Informality and the Second Economy in East-Central Europe." Pp. 215-44. in Gregory K. Schoepfle and Jorge Pérez-Lopez (eds.) Work Without Protections: Case Studies of the Informal Sector in Developing Countries, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Washington, D.C.
Readings:
Stark, David and László Bruszt. 1998. Postsocialist Pathways: Transforming Politics and
Property in Eastern Europe. NYC: Cambridge UP.
Böröcz, József. 1993. "Simulating the Great Transformation. Property Change under Prolonged
Informality in Hungary." Archives européennes de sociologie/ Europäisches Archiv für
Soziologie / European Journal of Sociology. XXXIV,1(May):81-107.
Stark, David. 1996. "Recombinant Property in East European Capitalism." AJS, 101, 4, Jan, 993-1027
1. You will find the books in the Recto & Verso bookshop at 90 Albany St, New Brunswick (247-2324). I have also requested that the Graduate Reserves at Alexander Library set them aside for your perusal.