Market Society provides an original and accessible review of
changing conceptions of the market in modern social thought. The
book considers markets as social institutions rather than simply
formal models, arguing that modern ideas of the market are based on
critical notions of social order, social action and social
relations. Examining a range of perspectives on the market from
across different social science disciplines, Market Society
surveys a complex field of ideas in a clear and comprehensive
manner. In this way it seeks to extend economic sociology beyond a
critique of mainstream economics, and to engage more broadly with
social, political and cultural theory.
The book explores historical approaches to the emergence of a
modern market society, as well as major approaches to the market
within modern economic theory and sociology. It addresses key
arguments in economic sociology and anthropology, the relation
between markets and states, and critical and cultural theories of
market rationality. It concludes with a discussion of markets and
culture in a late modern context.
This wide-ranging text will be of interest to undergraduate and
postgraduate students in sociology, economic theory and history,
politics, social and political theory, anthropology and cultural
studies.
