Veblen and Modern Radical Economics

Pluta, Joseph E.; Leathers, Charles G.

doi:10.1080/00213624.1978.11503508

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The more explicit address of the discipline of economics and economic issues in Veblen’s writings has led to him being treated as a relatively marginal figure within sociology, with significant social and economic texts, including The Theory of Business Enterprise (2005a [1904]), The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts (2004 [1914]), The Vested Interests and the Common Man (2005b [1919] [papers originally published in the Dial 1918–1919]), Engineers and the Price System (2001 [1921]) and Absentee Ownership: Business Enterprise in Recent Times: The Case of America (2006 [1923]), either being granted relatively little, if any, sociological recognition or being selectively interpreted in terms of his first major study. 2 For the most part, Veblen’s principal contribution to social inquiry has been deemed to derive from his text The Theory of the Leisure Class (1994 [1899]) and in consequence when he has been read sociologically it has been primarily as an analyst of consumption (Ritzer, 2001; Ritzer et al, 2001), rather than as a critical analyst of the wider-ranging capitalist ordering of business, industry and social life (Baran and Sweezy, 1968; Cornehls, 2004; Foster, 2011; O’Hara, 2002; Pluta and Leathers, 1978; Spindler, 2002).…”

Section: Beyond Biography: Situating Veblenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Good for business, good without reservation? Veblen’s critique of business enterprise and pecuniary culture

Smart

2014

Journal of Classical Sociology

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Thorstein Veblen's work undoubtedly has a place within the field of institutional economics but he has been a relatively marginal figure within the discipline of sociology. If Veblen is discussed at all within contemporary sociology, it is almost without exception in relation to his first major work The Theory of the Leisure Class and his principal contribution to our understanding of modern social life is considered to flow from observations on consumer conduct and associated practices and predispositions. While The Theory of the Leisure Class is a significant work, it by no means exhausts the contemporary relevance of Veblen's oeuvre. It is argued in this article that in a series of subsequent interconnected studies which embed economic matters in their social and political context, Veblen proceeded to develop a powerful critical analysis of business enterprise and pecuniary culture, one that bears comparison with aspects of Karl Marx's work. Veblen's early twentieth-century critical political economy, his references to social and economic dilemmas and tensions as well as his identification of the potential scope for change or 'reconstruction' arising from substantial conflicts of interest between 'the established order of business' preoccupied with maximising profit and 'the underlying population who work for a living' are of considerable contemporary significance, as is his recognition that what is good for business is not good without reservation, not necessarily good for the community or 'the common man'.

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Section: Beyond Biography: Situating Veblenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Good for business, good without reservation? Veblen’s critique of business enterprise and pecuniary culture

Smart

2014

Journal of Classical Sociology

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“…Here we would voice little disagreement, and in view of this existing body of work we do not intend to add another voice to the chorus. Though we would certainly not deny that a profitable 'Marx-Veblen synthesis' can be achieved despite lingering tensions, our immediate purpose lies elsewhere (but a few representative examples of such efforts may be found in Pluta and Leathers 1978;Dugger and Sherman 1994;Dowd 1974;Sweezy 1958;Stanfield 1989). Namely, we contend that a striking methodological parallel can be drawn with respect to their choice of starting points.…”

Section: A Marx-veblen Accord?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Thorstein Veblen: A Marxist Starting Point

Ford

McColloch

2012

Journal of Economic Issues

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractAs existing literature attests, in spite of methodological differences Marx and Veblen draw strikingly similar conclusions regarding production, conflict, and alienation in modern existence. We here attempt to establish that similarity in conclusion stems from similarity in approach. After reviewing the existing literature on a Marx-Veblen methodological reconciliation, we recapitulate Marx's method, making the mediated starting point the locus of discussion. From this vantage point, we then examine Veblen's own approach to analysis in "The Theory of Business Enterprise" and the conclusions that emerge as they resemble those of Marx. In taking a kindred approach Veblen is able to arrive at an understanding of capitalism in accordance with, and complementary to, Marx's rendering of the inverted nature of economic life in modernity.

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The Association for Evolutionary Economics and the Union for Radical Political Economics: General Issues of Continuity and Integration

O’Hara¹

1995

Journal of Economic Issues

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Veblen and Modern Radical Economics

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Good for business, good without reservation? Veblen’s critique of business enterprise and pecuniary culture

Good for business, good without reservation? Veblen’s critique of business enterprise and pecuniary culture

Thorstein Veblen: A Marxist Starting Point

The Association for Evolutionary Economics and the Union for Radical Political Economics: General Issues of Continuity and Integration

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