Reading Karl Polanyi for the Twenty-First Century

This volume revisits Karl Polanyi’s analysis of the institutional separation of politics and the economy in the context of the nineteenth century market society to argue that the market economy is not a spontaneous process, but a “political project” realized through institutional changes whereby labor, land, money, and currently knowledge appear as commodities. The contributions explore the political dynamics of this commodification process, its implications for human life and livelihood, and the possibilities for the advent of a more viable order where the economy would be replaced under social control. With its interdisciplinary reach, the book is of interest to academics and graduate students in different fields such as economic sociology, political economy and social policy.

Ayse Bugra completed her Ph.D. in economics at McGill University. She is currently a professor at Ataturk Institute of Modern Turkish History and the founding director of the research center ‘Social Policy Forum’ at Bogazici University, Istanbul. Her fields of specialization are History and Methodology of Economics, Development Economics, and Comparative Social Policy. Her publications include On Economics and Human Behavior (in Turkish, 1989, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2005), State and Business in Modern Turkey: A Comparative Study (1994), State, Market and Organizational Form (co-edited with Behlül Üsdiken, Walter de Gruyter, 1997), and Islam in Economic Organizations (1999). She has published articles in different edited collections and in such journals as South Atlantic Quarterly, Economics and Philosophy, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Technological Change and Social Forecasting, Current Anthropology, Review of Radical Political Economy, MAUSS. She translated The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi into Turkish (1986, 2000, 2003, 2005).
Kaan Agartan is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and currently a research fellow at the research center ‘Social Policy Forum’ at Bogazici University, Istanbul.

“Fruitfully peering into the ‘knowledge economy,’ intellectual property rights, and the scientific revolution, Bugra and Agartan’s book refines Karl Polanyi’s framework. The authors venture into issues beyond Polanyi’s compass. This critical engagement with his analysis of ‘free markets’ and moral well-being yields fresh insights into transformative forces today.”
–James H. Mittelman, University Professor of International Affairs, American University

Introduction–Ayse Bugra * PART I: REFLECTIONS ON DISEMBEDDEDNESS: WELFARE STATE AND BEYOND * Suppressing the Double Movement to Secure the Dictatorship of Finance–Manfred Bienefeld * The 1970’s and After: The Political Economy of Inflation and the Crisis of Social Democracy–Pat Devine * The Slight Transformation–Contesting the Legacy of Karl Polanyi–Hannes Lacher *  PART II: COMMODITY FICTION IN CONTEMPORARY MARKET ECONOMIES: WORK TODAY * Labor Re-Commodification in the New Transformation–Guy Standing * The Right to Work, Way of Social Exclusion? Basic Income as a Guarantee to the Right to Work–José Luis Rey Pérez * PART III: COMMODITY FICTION IN CONTEMPORARY MARKET ECONOMIES: KNOWLEDGE TODAY * Knowledge as a Fictitious Commodity: Insights and Limits of a Polanyian Perspective–Bob Jessop * Commodification of Science in a Neoliberal World–Gürol Irzik * Intellectual Property: Commodification and Its Discontents–Virginia Brown-Keyder * PART IV: PATTERNS OF RESISTANCE AND ADAPTATION * Polanyi’s Concept of Double Movement And Politics in the Contemporary Market Society–Ayse Bugra * Reforming East Asian Labor Systems: China, Korea, and Thailand–Frederic C. Deyo and Kaan Agartan * The Strong Embrace of Weak Actors: Explaining Social Support for Economic Liberalization Through the Case Study of SMEs in the EU–Kevin Young * Corporate Social Responsibility and Market Society: Credit and Banking Inclusion in Brazil–Maria Alejandra Madi Caporale and José Ricardo Barbosa Gonçalves