The Great Transformation

Posted on 04 February 2018 by Karl Polanyi

In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the great transformation of the Industrial Revolution His analysis explains not only the deficiencies of the self regulating market, but the potentially dire social consequences of untempered market capitalism New introductory material reveals the renewed importance of Polanyi s seminal analysis in an era of globalization and free trade. Download The Great Transformation author Karl Polanyi – kino-fada.fr I foolishly took it upon myself to read not only the assigned chapters, but the whole of Polanyi s magnum opus, and for the past few days have been lost in the labyrinth of 19th century poor laws and monetary policy in the Weimar Republic But this book was immensely profitable, if I may borrow a market based metaphor.In particular, three of Polanyi s simplest, most commonsensical contentions were extremely illuminating to me and greatly bolstered my ability to criticize capitalist orthodoxy.The I foolishly took it upon myself to read not only the assigned chapters, but the whole of Polanyi s magnum opus, and for the past few days have been lost in the labyrinth of 19th century poor laws and monetary policy in the Weimar Republic But this book was immensely profitable, if I may borrow a market based metaphor.In particular, three of Polanyi s simplest, most commonsensical contentions were extremely illuminating to me and greatly bolstered my ability to criticize capitalist orthodoxy.The first, on page 48, is Polanyi s contention that the concept of man that Adam Smith and the economists after him put forth, of man as naturally engaging in trade and barter to further his economic interest, is pure invention Far from being a simple description of man s nature, it is thoroughly unnatural Man is, and throughout...I wouldn t think of reading this book without a guide Because Polanyi is an impossible readdifficult than Marx he doesn t have Marx s love of language or Marx s humor ,difficult than Hegel he doesn t have Hegel s pointed sense of knowing that his prose is torturing the poor reader If you have ever tried to read Aristotle, then you have some idea of how Polanyi writes tear duct vaporizing dry But you get something here you won t get in hegel or marx in part because he is I wouldn t think of reading this book without a guide Because Polanyi is an impossible readdifficult than Marx he doesn t have Marx s love of language or Marx s humor ,difficult than Hegel he doesn t have Hegel s pointed sense of knowing that his prose is torturing the poor reader If you have ever tried to read Aristotle, then you have some idea of how Polanyi writes tear duct vaporizing dry But you get something here you won t get in hegel or marx in part because he is building on them What you get is this the claim that markets and socialism are simultaneous in their emergence Not markets against socialism, but markets AND socialism from the beginning and always The bold claims is that without socialism of various types a pure market society couldn t exist forthan 20 years Markets would destroy the very elements they thrive upon human beings.What we get from Polanyi is that the temporal separation of stages that the Scottish Enlightenment figures Smith, Hume, Ferguson, etc , hegel, and marx de...This is a fascinating book, I m astonished I haven t heard of it earlier.Polanyi is not your run of the mill economist he does not use equations he uses context and does not describe events in a vacuum, integrating various disciplines from the social sciences He describes four elements which comprised 19th century civilization, and which have all been swept away by the great bloodbaths of the early 20th century the gold standard, the international balance of power, the classical liberal s This is a fascinating book, I m astonished I haven t heard of it earlier.Polanyi is not your run of the mill economist he does not use equations he uses context and does not describe events in a vacuum, integrating various disciplines from the social sciences He describes four elements which comprised 19th century civilization, and which have all been swept away by the great bloodbaths of the early 20th century the gold standard,...Polanyi understood economicsrealistically than most economists, and understood that economics does not stand alone, but exists within a larger social institutional context I know that sounds a bit stiff But until you get it, you will suspect that economists don t know something you don t You might even believe in the almighty market as something that exists outside of culture and politics, like the revolutions of the planets Economics is always, like religion or politics, something w Polanyi understood economicsrealistically than most economists, and understood that economics does not stand alone, but exists within a larger social institutional context I know that sounds a bit stiff But until you get it, you will suspect that economists don t know something you don t You might even believe in the almighty market as something that exists outside of culture and politics, like the revolutions of the planets Economics is always, like religi...I read this a few years ago.I ve been thinking about it again after reading Streeck s stunning How Will Capitalism End Maybe the key concept here is embeddedness Capitalist society relies on pre capitalist social formations to sustain itself The market on its own is an insufficient foundation for the spiritual and social bonds that constitute a people as opposed to just an aggregate of individuals.Thus it may follow the total triumph of capitalism w I read this a few years ago.I ve been thinking about it again after reading Streeck s stunning How Will Capitalism End Maybe the key concept here is embeddedness Capitalist society relies on pre capitalist social formations to sustain itself The market on its own is an insufficient foundation for the spiritual and social bonds that constitute a people as opposed ...The principle point made by this book is that the attempted transition from a market embedded in society to a society embedded in a self regulating market resulted in the collapse of 19th century civilisation, in the form of global conflict and economic recession Polanyi asserts that free markets, whereby labour, land and capital become fictitious commodities, result in massive social dislocation Socialism exists to counter this, giving a double movement , as recognisable now as in 1944 In h The principle point made by this book is that the attempted transition from a market embedded in society to a society embedded in a self regulating market resulted in the collapse of 19th century civilisation, in the form of global conflict and economic recession Polanyi asserts that free markets, whereby labour, land and capital become fictitious commodities, result in massive social dislocation Socialism exists to counter this, giving a double movement , as recognisable now as in 1944 In his opinion, the establishment of the free ...I really didn t like this book, mostly because I felt that it was poorly formulated and based on a lot of incomplete examples Every time Polanyi tried to prove something he d give 4 examples of random indigenous populations in which the event occurred All of his examples seemed like exceptions rather than base cases for a rule, and his strange statements like previously to our time the 1940s Industrial Revolution period in general no economy has ever existed that, even in principle, was con I really didn t like this book, mostly because I felt that it was poorly formulated and based on a lot of incomplete examples Every time Polanyi tried to prove something he d give 4 examples of random indigenous populations in which the event occurred All of his examples seemed like exceptions rather than base cases for a rule, and his strange statements like previous...Polanyi s Great Transformation is a classic of economic history in its older, political economy mode, and a book too often forgotten in an era where economics is seen as a kind of physics, a discipline about ineluctable mathematical laws Polanyi looks at the social consequences of unfettered capitalism in early 19th c England and at the way British society, through relief schemes and workhouses, tried to cope with a world where workers were expected to behave as mere inputs A fine work, wel Polanyi s Great Transformation is a classic of economic history in its older, political economy mode, and a book too often forgotten in an era where economics is seen as a kind of physics, a discipline about ineluctable mathematical laws Polanyi looks at the social consequences of unfettered capitalism in early 19th c England and at the way British society, through relief schemes and workhouses, tried to cope with a world where workers were ex...When I was in graduate school, I read Michael Polanyi s Personal Knowledge Towards a Post Critical Philosophy 1958 and was impressed with the way in which he argues that positivism gives a false account of knowing Having had to endure the righteous fundamentalism of positivist professors as an undergraduate, it was wonderfully refreshing to encounter a book that, in a few pages, was able to dismantle thoroughly the positivist view of knowing I realized later that these folks had only read When I was in graduate school, I read Michael Polanyi s Personal Knowledge Towards a Post Critical Philosophy 1958 and was impressed with the way in which he argues that positivism gives a false account of knowing Having had to endure the righteous fundamentalism of positivist p...I have to admit that I took fifty one weeks to finish this The effect of that is that my take on it is somewhat disjointed Hence no proper review The four stars 3.5 really are because the author presents some excellent historical analysis and pulls that together to synthesize extremely original ideas of economic development I m surprised we don t seereferences to Polanyi s theories.I did have some concerns with his choice of historical events As is often the case, he has chosen thos I have to admit that I took fifty one weeks to finish this The effect of that is that my take on it is somewhat disjointed Hence no proper review The four stars 3.5 really are because the author presents some excellent historical analysis and pull...

English
04 February 2018

Karl Polanyi