The 'Invisible Hand': Neoclassical Economics and the Ordering of Society1
| Autor: | Thomas A. Lyson, Robert J. Torres, Andrew Pleasant, Alan Finlayson, Kai A. Schafft |
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| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
060201 languages & linguistics
Philosophy of science Sociology and Political Science 05 social sciences Mainstream economics 050801 communication & media studies 06 humanities and the arts Schools of economic thought Neoclassical economics Power (social and political) Politics 0508 media and communications Invisible hand 0602 languages and literature Economics New institutional economics Heterodox economics |
| Zdroj: | Critical Sociology. 31:515-536 |
| ISSN: | 1569-1632 0896-9205 |
| DOI: | 10.1163/156916305774482183 |
| Popis: | The dominant economic discourse of the industrialized world — in political, academic, and popular terms — is neoclassical economics. A founding proposition is that an “invisible hand” aggregates individual decisions driven by rational self-interest into socially optimal outcomes. We draw upon economics as well as the sociology and philosophy of science to question this fundamental proposition and investigate neoclassical economic theory's dominant position in shaping social and political organization. We document the historical and contingent processes by which the neoclassical narrative has come to dominate the discursive space of capitalist societies. We argue that, contrary to claims of value neutrality, neoclassical economics functions as a master social narrative, or a technology of power, that concentrates power by transferring socio-economic decision-making from multiple sites to the centralized nodes of global economic and political institutions. This transfer occurs through the domination of the discursive space. The “invisible hand” is power. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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