It is not socialism that explains capitalism, argues Max Weber, it is rather capitalism that explains socialism. And as long as capitalism exists, socialist aspirations will persist: “What characterises our current situation is firstly the fact that the private sector of the economy in conjunction with private bureaucratic organisation and hence with the separation of the worker […]
Books
by Fred Block* John Vail has written a remarkable book about Karl Polanyi’s concept of the double movement. It is a careful exegesis of Polanyi’s argument that also puts that analysis into dialogue with subsequent scholarship in history, politics, and sociology. Vail is appreciative of Polanyi’s insights, but he is certainly not uncritical. He points […]
This time especially worth reading and sharing pieces: — Samir Amin, a towering intellectual and eminent political economist, who greatly contributed to the study on imperialism an monopoly capital, and coined the term ‘Eurocentrism’ passed away four year ago. Read here his last essay “Revolution or Decadence? Thoughts on the Transition between Modes of Production […]
by Omer Tekdemir* These days we are witnessing a growing interest in Karl Polanyi’s framework to explain the organic crisis of neoliberalism, including the populist reaction; while Antonio Gramsci has always been popular within a wide range of movement studies from different disciplines.My recently published monograph Constituting the Political Economy of the Kurds: Social Embeddedness, Hegemony, […]
Bruno Latour, the preeminent sociologist, original anthropologist, and highly influential thinker, dies aged 75. This is devastating news and an enormous loss.If there is a scholar whose tremendous contribution would be simply impossible to describe in a short blog post — this would be Latour’s. Even the Holberg Prize‘s – the most important award in […]
Wassily Leontief, a Russian-born U.S. economist, was and still is one of the most recognized names in economics, linked to the development of input-output analysis for which he won the “Nobel Prize” in Economic Sciences in 1973. Leontief earned his Ph.D. degree under the direction of a German economist and sociologist Werner Sombart in Berlin […]
by Kean Birch* Unicorns are private companies valued at over US$1 billion. The term was first used by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013 and has since become a cultural trope of its own. According to the business analytics firm CB Insights, there were close to 1,000 unicorns in the world at the end of […]
If you believe in Santa, do not read the following paper — sympathetically warn us Teea Palo, Katy Mason and Philip Roscoe at the beginning of “Performing a Myth to Make a Market: The Construction of the ‘Magical World’ of Santa”. In this interesting research, the authors follow the Santa myth to a remote northern […]
I recently listened to the new book by Anand Giridharadas, who is well-known for his previous book Winner Takes All. That book was about how (some of) the superrich are happy trying to contribute to some of the world’s problems, but never ask any questions related to why the world is so unequal as it […]
The holiday season is upon us. As you go about your holiday shopping, might I suggest you to consider some gifts made by philosophers? Let’s start with stuff from the philosopher-artists who create the comics here at Daily Nous: Pete Mandik (Mind Chunks), Tanya Kostochka (To φ Or Not To φ), Rachel Katler (Ad Hoc), and Ryan Lake (Chaospet). You can learn more about their awesome offerings by checking out this previous post, or you can go straight to their online shops by clicking on their buttons below: Tanya has an additional shop here. Gifts featuring portraits of philosophers are available from Renée Jorgensen here. Maureen Eckert has philosophy and non-philosophy-themed art, clothing, and objects for sale here. I’m sure there are other philosophers-makers out there with various goods on offer, so if you know about them, please share the details and links in the comments. And let’s not forget a classic product made by many philosophers: books.