How economics forgot history : the problem of historical specificity in social science / Geoffrey M. Hodgson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hodgson, Geoffrey Martin, 1946-

Series:

Economics as social theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historical school of economics.

Social sciences--Study and teaching.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

xix, 422 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2001.

Summary:

In "How Economics Forgot History, Hodgson calls into question the tendency of economic method to try and explain all economic phenomena by using the same catch-all theories and dealing in universal truths. He argues that you need different theories to analyse different economic phenomena and systems and that historical context must be taken into account. This title available in eBook format. Click here for more information. Visit our eBookstore at: www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk.

Contents:

1 The limitations of general theory 3

2 The problem of historical specificity 21

Part II The nineteenth century: the German historical school and its impact 41

3 Karl Marx and the specificity of the capitalist system 43

4 The older historical school in Germany 56

5 The historical school in the British Isles 65

6 The methodological failure of the older historical school 75

7 Out of Austria: Carl Menger and the Methodenstreit 79

8 Alfred Marshall and the British Methodendiskurs 95

9 The responses of the younger historical school in Germany 113

Part III The twentieth century: from American institutionalism to the end of history 135

10 Thorstein Veblen and the foundations of Institutionalism 137

11 Early American institutionalism and the problem of historical specificity 152

12 The theoretical manifesto of John Commons 166

13 Talcott Parsons and the ascent of ahistorical sociology 178

14 Death and counter-revolution at the London School of Economics 204

15 John Maynard Keynes and his declaration of a General Theory 215

16 The triumph of barren universality 232

17 Institution blindness and the end of history 248

Part IV The millennium: the second coming of history? 271

18 Are there universals in social and economic theory? 273

19 Property, culture, habits and institutions 287

20 Exchange and production: property and firms 310

21 A note on social formations and levels of abstraction 322

22 An evolutionary perspective on the historical problem 330

23 Invention is helpless without tradition 346.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 356-402) and index.

ISBN:

0415257166

0415257174

OCLC:

46319622