Lineages of Embeddedness: On the Antecedents and Successors of a Polanyian Concept

Abstract

Since the 1980s, much debate has revolved around Karl Polanyi's concept of the “dis/embedded economy,” generating some light and not a little heat. This paper looks at three reasons that account for part of the “heat.” It begins by tracing the sources upon which Polanyi drew. They include Karl Marx, Ferdinand Tönnies, and Max Weber, along with anthropology of the inter‐war period, and German and American Institutionalist economics. After exploring the differing ways in which these varying currents conceptualize the relationship between economy and society, I explore the different interpretations of what Polanyi means by embeddedness, and the different purposes to which contemporary economic sociologists have put the term. For some, he is held up as the originator of a line of sociological analysis that treats “the economy” as a subsystem “embedded in” a social system. In this reading the emphasis is upon the moral underpinnings of market behavior, in contrast to the naturalism of Ricardo, Malthus and their heirs. For others, his “disembedding” thesis contains a more radical tale: of the market economy coming to dominate “society,” bringing forth a sorcerer's apprentice world of untrammeled market forces that, although human creations, lie beyond conscious human control.

Disembedding Polanyi: Exploring Polanyian Economic Geographies

“…This kind of 'foundational' reading of a socially situated, deeply grounded economy led Block (2001, page xxiv) to speculate that "it seems plausible that Polanyi drew the [embeddedness] metaphor from coal mining", following his extensive work on British economic history during the 1930s. Dale (2011), on the other hand, traces the origins of the concept to Polanyi's reinterpretations of Thurnwald, Tonnies, and Marx. These were certainly major influences, but the recognition of history and culture as deep mediators of economic development, indeed as shapers of 'economy' itself, also reflected the life experiences of this often-displaced scholar.…”

“…The concept of embeddedness may be Polanyi's "most famous contribution to social thought", as Fred Block (2001, page xxiii) has observed, but it has also been "a source of enormous confusion". Both its lineage and its implications have remained highly contested (see Cangiani, 2011;Dale, 2011;Gemici, 2008;Krippner et al 2004). At root, the concept indexes Polanyi's enduring skepticism concerning the autonomy of the economic in orthodox analysis and in capitalist ideology, embodying his counterclaim that all economies are socially hosted, politically mediated, and institutionally regulated.…”

Fatores Condicionantes do Empreendedorismo: Redes Sociais ou Classes Sociais?

“…Na visão de Polanyi, enquanto o mercado encontra-se desembedded, os outros dois tipos de interação econômica -proeminentes no passado -estariam mais embedded em estruturas sociais e culturais. Sua proposição acerca de um mercado desembedded vem sendo objeto de controvérsia e merecendo vários estudos (BARBER, 1995;GEMICI, 2008;KRIPPNER, 2004;DALE, 2011;BECKERT, 2009;MACHADO, 2010;KURTULUS, 2008;KNOWLES;OWEN, 2008). Ao introduzir o conceito de imersão, Granovetter (1985a) relações interpessoais permeia todo o trabalho do autor, desde suas reflexões iniciais sobre o 'poder dos laços fracos' (GRANOVETTER, 1973(GRANOVETTER, , 1983(GRANOVETTER, , 1985b, passando por imersão (1985a), até sua proposta mais recente de agenda para a sociologia econômica, esta baseada no conceito de acoplamento-desacoplamento (2008).…”

“…Ao introduzir o conceito de imersão, Granovetter (1985a) relações interpessoais permeia todo o trabalho do autor, desde suas reflexões iniciais sobre o 'poder dos laços fracos' (GRANOVETTER, 1973(GRANOVETTER, , 1983(GRANOVETTER, , 1985b, passando por imersão (1985a), até sua proposta mais recente de agenda para a sociologia econômica, esta baseada no conceito de acoplamento-desacoplamento (2008). Sua proposição de imersão, no entanto, vem sendo objeto de críticas (BARBER, 1995;KRIPPNER;ALVAREZ, 2007;BECKER, 2009;DALE, 2011).…”

“…Embora central para a moderna sociologia econômica, o conceito de imersão, como concebido por Granovetter (1985a), vem sendo, ao longo do tempo, alvo de críticas e revisões (BECKERT, 2009;MACHADO, 2010;KRIPPNER, 2004;DALE, 2011;BARBER, 1995). Alguns autores questionam, inclusive, a maneira como Granovetter teria se apropriado do conceito de Polanyi.…”