The New Economic Sociology: A Reader

Published by Princeton University Press 2004

The New Economic Sociology

A Reader

Edited by: Frank Dobbin

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691229270

Overview
Contents

About this book

Economic sociology is a rapidly expanding field, applying sociology's core insight--that individuals behave according to scripts that are tied to social roles--to economic behavior. It places homo economicus (that tried-and-true fictive actor who is completely rational, acts only out of self-interest, and has perfect information) in context. In this way, it places a construct into a framework that more closely approximates the world in which we live. But, as an academic field, economic sociology has lost focus. The New Economic Sociology remedies this.

The book comprises twenty of the most representative and widely read articles in the field's history--its classics--and organizes them according to four themes at the heart of sociology: institutions, networks, power, and cognition. Dobbin's substantial and engagingly written introduction (including his rich comparison of Yanomamo chest-beaters and Wall Street bond-traders) sets a clear framework for what follows. Gathering force throughout is Dobbin's argument that economic practices emerge through distinctly social processes, in which social networks and power resources play roles in the social construction of certain behaviors as rational or optimal. Not only does Dobbin provide a consummate introduction to the field and its history to students approaching the subject for the first time, but he also establishes a schema for interpreting the field based on an understanding of what economic sociology aims to achieve.

Author / Editor information

Frank Dobbin is Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. His previous book, Forging Industrial Policy: The United States, Britain, and France in the Railway Age, won the American Sociological Association's 1996 Max Weber Award.

Reviews

"This anthology will be very useful for students of economic sociology at both the graduate or undergraduate level, and others who simply want an overview of this growing field will find it a valuable addition to their personal library. Dobbin's introduction is a highly intelligent, synthetic essay that both motivates the field and highlights its distinctive contributions."—Bruce Carruthers, Northwestern University, coauthor of Economy/Society: Markets, Meanings, and Social Structure

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Chapter 1 THE SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE ECONOMY Frank Dobbin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
INSTITUTIONS
Chapter 2 FROM THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM Max Weber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
Chapter 3 INSTITUTIONALIZED ORGANIZATIONS: FORMAL STRUCTURE AS MYTH AND CEREMONY John W. Meyer and Brian Rowan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
Chapter 4 THE IRON CAGE REVISITED: INSTITUTIONAL ISOMORPHISM AND COLLECTIVE RATIONALITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL FIELDS Paul J. Dimaggio and Walter W. Powell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Chapter 5 FROM PRICING THE PRICELESS CHILD: THE CHANGING SOCIAL VALUE OF CHILDREN Viviana A. Zelizer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Chapter 6 THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MARKETS: THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS RECIPES Richard Whitley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	162
Chapter 7 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE CONGLOMERATE FIRM IN THE 1980S: THE DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL FORM Gerald F. Davis, Kristina A. Diekmann and Catherine H. Tinsley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
NETWORKS
Chapter 8 FROM THE DIVISION OF LABOR IN SOCIETY Émile Durkheim Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Chapter 9 ECONOMIC ACTION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE: THE PROBLEM OF EMBEDDEDNESS Mark Granovetter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Chapter 10 EMBEDDEDNESS AND IMMIGRATION: NOTES ON THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF ECONOMIC ACTION Alejandro Portes and Julia Sensenbrenner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	274
Chapter 11 A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO MARKETS Eric M. Leifer and Harrison C. White Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	302
Chapter 12 FROM STRUCTURAL HOLES: THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF COMPETITION Ronald S. Burt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
Chapter 13 EMBEDDEDNESS IN THE MAKING OF FINANCIAL CAPITAL: HOW SOCIAL RELATIONS AND NETWORKS BENEFIT FIRMS SEEKING FINANCING Brian Uzzi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
POWER
Chapter 14 FROM THE GERMAN IDEOLOGY Karl Marx Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
Chapter 15 FROM THE TRANSFORMATION OF CORPORATE CONTROL Neil Fligstein Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	407
Chapter 16 FROM SOCIALIZING CAPITAL: THE RISE OF THE LARGE INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION IN AMERICA William G. Roy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	433
Chapter 17 FROM CITY OF CAPITAL: POLITICS AND MARKETS IN THE ENGLISH FINANCIAL REVOLUTION Bruce G. Carruthers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	457
COGNITION
Chapter 18 FROM THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE Émile Durkheim Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	483
Chapter 19 FROM THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY: A TREATISE IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE Peter L Berger and Thomas Luckmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	496
Chapter 20 FROM ORGANIZATIONS: COGNITIVE LIMITS ON RATIONALITY James G. March and Herbert A. Simon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	518
Chapter 21 FROM SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS Karl E. Weick Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	533
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	553