Central European University Sociology/Social Anthropology Department 2009 winter
Economic sociology
Balazs Vedres
Course description. Business organizations, workers, managers and consumers today face the challenge of adapting to a transforming global economy: they must increasingly cope with market volatility and the extraordinarily rapid pace of technological change. During the past decade, perhaps the most profound transformations were those in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union after regime change; in East Asia ignited by technological change and financial globalization; or in Latin America brought about by the challenges of globalizing chains of production. The aim of this course is to introduce theories, discuss structures, agents, and temporalities to help understand developments brought about by the last two decades of economic transformations. In the first part of the course we discuss the foundations of economic sociology: the ideas of embeddedness and performativity. In the second part we turn to some of the most important structures that constrain, enable, or channel economic transformations. In the third part we explore dimensions of agency and introduce some of the most important types of agents that foster or hinder economic change. In the final part we discuss the role of temporality: sequencing, pacing, and the multiplicity of processes that shape the dynamics of economic change. Requirements. Students are required to attend each class having read all required readings, and contribute to the discussions with active interest in the topics of the class, also adding their unique perspective and experience. Students are required to prepare a note of about half a page written on the key problems and questions related to the readings for class. This note should be sent to the instructor and all other students at least three hours before class. Students are also required to prepare at least one 15 minute presentation of readings for a given class (dates chosen on the first class) that sharply exposes the problems and potential questions for discussion. Beyond a focused presentation of readings students should also take on the role of a discussant at least once (dates are chosen also on the first class), summarizing the discussions of a class at the end in 5-10 minutes. At the end of the course students are required to write a 3000-5000 word essay that builds from the readings and discussion of class. This essay should have a comparative perspective of one of the topics; less-than-a-page topic statements should be handed in by the 7 th class. Course structure.
Part I: Theoretical perspectives on economic transformations
1. Introduction In the introductory class we discuss the key topics of economic sociology, and the recent evolution of this field. *Arthur, W. Brian. 1999. “The end of economic certainty.” In John Henry Clippinger (editor), The Biology of Business. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. *Granovetter, mark and Richard Swedberg. 1992. The Sociology of Economic Life. Boulder, CA: Westview Press. 2. Embeddedness An important structural element in economic transformation is the network organization of economic life. Economic sociology as a subfield was organized around the notion of embeddedness. We discuss this concept from a critical perspective. * Granovetter, Mark. 1985. "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness." American Journal of Sociology 91:481-510. *Krippner, Greta et al. 2004. "Polanyi Symposium: a conversation on embeddedness." Socio-Economic Review 2:109-135 Krippner, Greta R. 2001. "The elusive market: Embeddedness and the paradigm of economic sociology." Theory and Society. 30: 775-810
3. Performativity
Markets are embedded in social networks – but they are also embedded in economics and mathematical formulas. Such conceptual constructs perform a market, rather than describing the market. *Callon, Michel. 1998. “Introduction the embeddedness of economic markets in economics.” In: Michel Callon (editor): The Laws of the Markets. Blackwell: Oxford UK. *MacKenzie, Donald, and Yuval Millo. 2003. “Constructing a Market, Performing a Theory: The Historical Sociology of a Financial Derivatives Exchange.” American Journal of Sociology 109(1)107-145. Part II: Structures, institutions, and symbols 4. Regions An important aspect to understand economic change is geographic location, clustering, and boundaries. We discuss the role of regional structure in economic prosperity. *Saxenian, Anna L. 1994. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Smith, David, and Michael Timberlake. 2002. Hierarchies of dominance among world cities: A network approach. In: Saskia Sassen (editor), Global Networks: Linked Cities. New York: Routledge. Hardy, Jane. 1998. "Cathedrals in the Desert? Transnationals, Corporate Strategy and Locality in Wroclaw." Regional Studies 32:639-52. 5. Finance and money Financial institutions are often held responsible for crises and also seen as a promise for economic development. In this class we will talk about what these financial institutions are, and how they affect transforming economies. *Beunza, Daniel and David Stark. 2004. “Tools of the Trade: The Socio-Technology of Arbitrage in a Wall Street Trading Room.” Industrial and Corporate Change 13(2):369-400 *Abolafia, Mitchel Y. 2002. “Making Sense of Recession: Policy Making at the Federal Reserve.” Social Studies of Finance conference paper, Columbia University, New York. Cetina, Karin K. and Urs Bruegger. 2002. "Global Microstructures: The Virtual Societies of Financial Markets." American Journal of Sociology 107(4):905-50. Verdery, Katherine. 1995. "Faith, Hope, and Caritas in the Land of the Pyramids: Romania, 1990 to 1994." Comparative Studies in Society and History 37(4):625-69. 6. Symbolic structures, discourses, and opinions The structures that matter for understanding economic transformations are symbolic: this class is devoted to discuss opinions and discourses as factors in economic transformations. *Ansell, Christopher K. 1997. "Symbolic Networks: The Realignment of the French Working Class, 1887-1894." American Journal of Sociology 103:359-390. White, Harrison C. 2000. "Modeling Discourse in and Around Markets." Poetics 27:117-33. Padgett, John. 1998. "Multiple Networks and Multiple Discourses." SFI Program on "Emergence of States and Markets". Part III: Agents 7. Elites, managers, entrepreneurs A key group of actors in transforming economies are the elites. We discuss the mutual link between elite change and economic restructuring based on an example from renaissance Florence. *Padgett, John F., and Christopher K. Ansell. 1993. "Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434." American Journal of Sociology 98:1259-1319. Eyal, Gil, Iván Szelényi, and Elanor Townsley. 2000. Making Capitalism Without Capitalists. The New Ruling Elite in Eastern Europe. London, New York: Verso. Róna-Tas, Ákos. 1994. "The First Shall Be Last? Entrepreneurship and Communist Cadres in the Transition From Socialism." American Journal of Sociology 100(1):40-69. 8. Foreign investors Actors in contemporary economic changes often come from afar: we discuss the role of foreign investors in bringing about economic change, and their capabilities to adjust to changing economies. *Bandelj, Nina. 2002. "Embedded Economies: Social Relations As Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern Europe." Social Forces 81(2):411-44. *Kogut, Bruce, and Gordon Walker. 2001. " The Small World of Germany and the Durability of National Networks." American Review of Sociology 66(3):317-35. 9. Expatriates and immigrants A peculiar group of actors, primarily in the changing economies of developing countries are expatriates and immigrants. We discuss their role in Eastern Europe and Taiwan: can expatriates and immigrants be links to knowledge from outside? How will they fit in into the local economic structures? *Portes, Alejandro. 1992. “Economic Sociology and the Sociology of Immigration: A Conceptial Overview.” in: Alejandro Portes (editor): The Economic Sociology of Immigration. Russel Sage Foundation, New York. *Saxenian, Anna L. and Jinn-Yuh Hsu. 2000. "The Silicon Valley-Hinschu Connection: Technical Communities and Industrial Upgrading ." . 10. International agencies, state bureaucracies, and local governments The involvement of state and similar actors – that are recently increasingly international – shapes the trajectories of economic change. In this class we discuss the role of these bureaucratic actors. *Fligstein, Neil and Iona Mara-Drita. 1996. "How to Make a Market: Reflections on the Attempt to Create a Single Market in the European Union." American Journal of Sociology 102(1):1-33. *Walder, Andrew G. 1995. "Local Governments as Industrial Firms: An Organizational Analysis of China's Transitional Economy." American Journal of Sociology 101(2):263-301. 11. Workers To what extent are workers effected by economic change? Or can workers induce change in the economy? In this class we read about both roles of workers: as products of an economic system and as agents of micro level economic change. *Stark, David. 1990. "Work, Worth, and Justice." Unpublished manuscript (was published in French). *Burawoy, Michael and Janos Lukacs. 1985. "Mythologies of Work: A Comparison of Firms in State Socialism and Advanced Capitalism." American Sociological Review 50(6):723-37. Part IV: Temporalities 12. Paths and temporalities of economic transformations In this final class we address the overall structure of economic change: the variants of change with respect to temporal pattern: speed, abruptness, and multiple paths of change. *Böröcz, József. 2001. "Change Rules." American Journal of Sociology 106(4):1152-68. *Stark, David and Laszlo Bruszt. 2001. " One Way or Multiple Paths: For a Comparative Sociology of East European Capitalism." American Journal of Sociology 106(4):1129-37. |