Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Sociology
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gilding, M.
Right arrow Articles by Marjoribanks, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Economy and society:

The enduring residualism of Australian sociology

Michael Gilding

Swinburne University of Technology, mgilding{at}swin.edu.au

Tim Marjoribanks

University of Melbourne

Australian sociologists have barely engaged with the resurgence of economic sociology in the USA and Europe. It might be argued that this lack of engagement arises from a robust local agenda, immune from metropolitan fashions. This article argues that this is not the case. Rather, it arises from the enduring residualism of Australian sociology vis-a-vis economics. In turn, this residualism is grounded in sociology's late beginnings in Australia, the dominant framework at the time of its insititutionalization in the 1950s and 1960s, and the limited challenge presented by critical approaches from the 1970s. The article identifies four major lines of inquiry in the resurgence of economic sociology: network analysis, comparative political economy, field theory and performativity theory. Notwithstanding their differences, these approaches direct attention to the social construction of markets. In turn, they challenge both mainstream economics and sociology. The papers in this Special Edition of the Journal of Sociology build upon these lines of inquiry in the Australian context.

Key Words: capitalism • economic sociology • economy • markets • society

References

  • Alexander, M. (1998) ` Big Business and Directorship Networks: The Centralisation of Economic Power in Australia ', Journal of Sociology 34(2): 107—22 .[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Becker, G. (1981) A Treatise on the Family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
  • Becker, G. (1992) `Autobiography', Nobelprize.org . URL (consulted June 2007): http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1992/beckerautobio.html
  • Beilharz, P. and T. Hogan (2005) `The State of Social Sciences in Australia', pp. 387—417 in J. Germov and T. McGee (eds) Histories of Australian Sociology. Carlton: Melbourne University Press .
  • Bourdieu, P. (2005) `Principles of an Economic Anthropology', pp. 75—89 in N.J. Smelser and R. Swedberg (eds) The Handbook of Economic Sociology, 2nd edn. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Bourdieu, P. and L. Wacquant (1992) An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press .
  • Bourke, H. (2005) `Social Scientists as Intellectuals: From the First World War to the Depression', pp. 145—69 in J. Germov and T.R. McGee (eds) Histories of Australian Sociology. Carlton: Melbourne University Press .
  • Burt, R. (1992) Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
  • Callon, M. (ed.) (1998) The Laws of the Markets. Oxford: Blackwell .
  • Carroll, J. and R. Manne (eds) (1992) Shutdown: The Failure of Economic Rationalism and How to Rescue Australia. Melbourne: Text .
  • Connell, R.W. (1977) Ruling Class, Ruling Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
  • Connell, R.W. (1985) Teachers' Work. Sydney: Allen & Unwin .
  • Connell, R.W. (2000) ` Sociology and World Market Society ', Contemporary Sociology 29(2): 291—6 .[CrossRef]
  • Connell, R.W. (2005) `Australia and World Sociology', pp. 3—27 in J. Germov and T.R. McGee (eds) Histories of Australian Sociology. Carlton: Melbourne University Press .
  • Connell, R.W., D.J. Ashenden, S. Kessler and G. Dowsett (1982) Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division. Sydney: Allen & Unwin .
  • Crouch, C. (2005) Capitalist Diversity and Change Recombinant Governance and Institutional Entrepreneurs. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
  • Crozier, M. (2005) `Society Economised: T.R. Ashworth and the History of the Social Sciences in Australia', pp. 123—43 in J. Germov and T.R. McGee (eds) Histories of Australian Sociology. Carlton: Melbourne University Press .
  • Cuff, E.C. and C.G.F. Payne (eds) (1979) Perspectives in Sociology. London: G. Allen & Unwin .
  • Davies, A.F. and S. Encel (eds) (1965) Australian Society: A Sociological Introduction, 1st edn. Melbourne: Cheshire .
  • Davies, A.F. and S. Encel (eds) (1970) Australian Society: A Sociological Introduction, 2nd edn. Melbourne: Cheshire .
  • Donaldson, M. (1991) Time of Our Lives: Love and Labour in the Working Class. Sydney: Allen & Unwin .
  • Donaldson, M. and S. Poynting (2006) Ruling Class Men: Money, Sex, Power. Bern: Peter Lang .
  • Encel, S. (1970) Equality and Authority: A Study of Class, Status and Power in Australia. Melbourne: Cheshire .
  • Fligstein, N. (2001) The Architecture of Markets. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Fourcade, M. (2006) ` The Construction of a Global Profession: The Transnationalisation of Economics ', American Journal of Sociology 112(1): 145—94 .[CrossRef]
  • Fourcade, M. (2007) ` Theories of Markets and Theories of Society ', American Behavioural Scientist 50(8): 1015—34 .[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  • Freeman, J. (2005) `Venture Capital and Modern Capitalism', pp. 144—67 in V. Nee and R. Swedberg (eds) The Economic Sociology of Capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Frenkel, S.J., M. Korczynski, K.A. Shire and M. Tam (1999) On the Front Line: Organization of Work in the Information Economy. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press .
  • Game, A. and R. Pringle (1983) Gender at Work. Sydney: George Allen & Unwin .
  • Gilding, M. (2005a) ` Families and Fortunes: Accumulation, Management Succession and Inheritance in Wealthy Families ', Journal of Sociology 41(1): 29—46 .[Abstract]
  • Gilding, M. (2005b) ` The New Economic Sociology and Its Relevance to Australia ', Journal of Sociology 41(3): 309—25 .[Abstract]
  • Granovetter, M. (1985) ` Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness ', American Journal of Sociology 91: 485—510 .
  • Groenewegen, P. and B. McFarlane (1990) A History of Australian Economic Thought. London: Routledge .
  • Hearn, W.E. (1863) Plutology, or, The Theory of the Efforts to Satisfy Human Wants. Melbourne: G. Robertson .
  • Hearn, W.E. (1878) The Aryan Household: Its Structure and Its Development: An Introduction to Comparative Jurisprudence. Melbourne: George Robertson .
  • Hollier, N. (ed.) (2004) Ruling Australia: The Power, Privilege & Politics of the New Ruling Class. Melbourne : Australian Scholarly Publishing .
  • Hollingsworth, J.R. and R. Boyer (1997) `From National Embeddedness to Spatial and Institutional Nestedness', pp. 433—84 in J.R. Hollingsworth and R. Boyer (eds) Contemporary Capitalism: The Embeddedness of Institutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
  • Knorr Cetina, K. and U. Bruegger (2002) ` Global Microstructures: The Virtual Societies of Financial Markets ', American Journal of Sociology 107(4): 905—50 .[CrossRef]
  • Krippner, G.R. (2001) ` The Elusive Market: Embeddedness and the Paradigm of Economic Sociology ', Theory and Society 30: 775—810 .[CrossRef][Web of Science]
  • Lash, S. and J. Urry (1987) The End of Organized Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press .
  • Lundvall, B.A. (1992) National Systems of Innovation. London: Pinter .
  • MacKenzie, D. and Y. Millo (2003) ` Constructing a Market, Performing Theory: The Historical Sociology of a Financial Derivatives Exchange ', American Journal of Sociology 109(1): 107—45 .[CrossRef]
  • Marceau, J. (1999) `The Disappearing Trick: Clusters in the Australian Economy', pp. 155—70 in J. Guinet (ed.) Boosting Innovation: The Cluster Approach. Paris: OECD .
  • Marjoribanks, T. (2000) News Corporation, Technology and the Workplace: Global Strategies, Local Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
  • Marshall, A. (1890) Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan .
  • Millmow, A. (1995) ` The Market for Economists in Australia ', Economic Papers 14(4): 83—96 .
  • Millmow, A. (2000) ` The State We're In: University Economics 1989/1999 ', Economic Papers 19(4): 43—52 .
  • Millmow, A. (2002) ` The Disintegration of Economics ', Economic Papers 21(2): 61—9 .
  • Nee, V. ( 2005) `The New Institutionalisms in Economics and Sociology ', pp. 49—74 in N.J. Smelser and R. Swedberg (eds) The Handbook of Economic Sociology, 2nd edn. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Offe, C. (1985) Disorganized Capitalism: Contemporary Transformations of Work and Politics, edited by J. Keane. Cambridge MA: MIT Press .
  • Orchard, L. and R. Dare (1989) `Introduction', pp. 1—5 in L. Orchard and R. Dare (eds) Markets, Morals and Public Policy. Annandale, NSW: Federation Press .
  • Parsons, T. and N. Smelser (1956) Economy and Society: A Study in the Integration of Economic and Social Theory. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
  • Peck, J. (2004) `Economic Sociologies in Space', SECONS Discussion Forum Contribution no. 5, Socio-Economics of Space, University of Bonn .
  • Piore, M.J. and C.F. Sabel (1984) The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. New York: Basic Books .
  • Pixley, J. (2004) Emotions in Finance: Distrust and Uncertainty in Global Markets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
  • Podolny, J. (2005) Status Signals: A Sociological Study of Market Competition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Pusey, M. (1991) Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation-Building State Changes Its Mind. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press .
  • Pusey, M. (2003) The Experience of Middle Australia: The Dark Side of Economic Reform. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press .
  • Rizvi, S.A.T. (2003) `Postwar Neoclassical Microeconomics', pp. 377—94 in W.J. Samuels, J.E. Biddle and J.B. Davis (eds) A Companion to the History of Economic Thought. Malden, MA: Blackwell .
  • Samuelson, P.A. (1947) Foundations of Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
  • Singh, S. (1997) Marriage Money: The Social Shaping of Money in Marriage and Banking. Sydney: Allen & Unwin .
  • Smelser, N.J. and R. Swedberg (2005) `Introducing Economic Sociology', pp. 3—25 in N.J. Smelser and R. Swedberg (eds) The Handbook of Economic Sociology, 2nd edn. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Smith, A. ([1776] 1976) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. New York: Oxford University Press .
  • Smyth, P. (1994) Australian Social Policy: The Keynesian Chapter. Kensington, NSW: University of New South Wales Press .
  • Stewart, J. (1994) The Lie of the Level Playing Field. Melbourne: Text .
  • Stilwell, F. (2000) Changing Track: A New Political Economic Direction for Australia. Annandale, NSW: Pluto Press .
  • Stretton, H. (1999) Economics: A New Introduction. Sydney: UNSW Press .
  • Trigilia, C. (2002) Economic Sociology: State, Market, and Society in Modern Capitalism. Malden, MA: Blackwell .
  • Uzzi, B. (2004) `Embeddedness in the Making of Financial Capital: How Social Relations and Networks Benefit Firms Seeking Financing', pp. 349—84 in F. Dobbin (ed.) The New Economic Sociology: A Reader. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Wheelwright, E.L. (1983) `Introduction', pp. 1—14 in E.L. Wheelwright and K. Buckley (eds) Essays in the Political Economy of Australian Capitalism, vol. 5. Sydney: Australia & New Zealand Book Co.
  • White, H. (1981) ` Where Do Markets Come From? ', American Journal of Sociology 87: 514—47 .[CrossRef]
  • White, R. and M. Bradshaw (2004) ` Business in Action: Framing and Overflowing in the Logistics of an Australian Company ', Journal of Sociology 40(1): 5—20 .[Abstract]
  • Whitley, R. (1992) Business Systems in East Asia: Firms, Markets and Societies. London: SAGE .
  • Williams, C. (1981) Open Cut: The Working Class in an Australian Mining Town. Sydney: Allen & Unwin .
  • Williamson, O. (1981) ` The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach ', American Journal of Sociology 87: 548—77 .[CrossRef]

Journal of Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 4, 331-348 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1440783307083228
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?



This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gilding, M.
Right arrow Articles by Marjoribanks, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?