Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Two major themes are part of the tradition of sociological analysis as it relates to economics. One theme concerns the sociology of economic phenomena, while the other concerns the relationship between economic theory and sociological theory. The first theme is the central focus of economic sociology, and the second has been a central focus of sociological theory in its phases of development. The two themes are closely connected. In recent decades, economists have endeavored to apply their theoretical approach to a wide variety of social phenomena very much in the domain of sociological research, such as religion and the family. Such “economic imperialism” has been met with some controversy and with opposition that includes a kind of reverse invasion, in which economic sociologists delve into the details of economic phenomena traditionally within the purview of the discipline of economics, e.g., the behavior of markets. In this mutual invasion of territories, economic sociologists criticize economic theory for postulating a “hyperrationality” on the parts of actors that is unreal and therefore misleading in its derived consequences even in regard to economic phenomena. Thus economic sociology itself is a major domain in which the controversial interplay of the disciplines occurs. In the classical phase of sociological thought, both Pareto and Weber migrated from economics to sociology. ... log in or subscribe to read full text