040236 KU Further Topics in Economic Sociology (MA) (2021W)

There has been a revival of interest in the writings of Karl Polanyi in the last several decades, but there are significant differences of interpretation of his arguments and there has been a tendency by scholars to pull particular quotes or concepts from Polanyi without
grasping the larger structure of his intellectual project. In this course, we will seek a holistic understanding of The Great Transformation and show that his work provides us with some conceptual tools that are extremely useful in making sense of contemporary political, economic, and environmental crises. Polanyi’s analysis of the disastrous consequences of subordinating society to the market in the 19th and early 20th century provides a powerful template for understanding the consequences of neoliberal or market fundamentalist policies over the last four decades. Students will be expected to master Polanyi’s key concepts such as fictitious commodities, the double movement, the free market utopia, and his critique of the gold standard. They will also be able to distinguish Polanyi’s analyses from those of other theorists.
The focus of the course will be on the careful reading of The Great Transformation and a relatively small number of secondary works. Class meetings will be a combination of lectures, discussions, and student presentations. Students will write a paper on an approved topic and deliver a ten or fifteen minute presentation of their argument to the seminar. They will also be expected to participate actively in class discussion both asking and answering questions.