Aysel Muradlı, Business Administration

EconomicSociology

Economics

• Economics is

the social science

that analyzes

the production,

distribution,

and consumption of

goods and services.

Sociology

• Sociology is the

study of human

social relationships

and institutions.

Economic sociology studies both the social effects and the social causes of various economic phenomena.

The specific term "economic sociology" was first coined by William Stanley Jevons in 1879.

Later it was used in the works of Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Georg Simmel.

The role of interests and rationality in economy

The importance of social relations and social institutions in economy

The transition to capitalism and its effects on markets

The role of trust in economic life

The classical foundations of modern economic sociology

The relationship between law and the economy

Entrepreneurship

The social organization of labor markets.

The field can be broadly divided into 2 periods:

Classical period

Contemporary period

The classical period was

concerned particularly

with modernity and its

constituent aspects

(rationalization,seculariza

tion, urbanization, social

stratification, and so on).

Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism (or agrarianism) toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance.

Rationalization refers to the replacement of traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society with rational, calculated ones.

Urbanization is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of rural migration and even suburban concentration into cities, particularly the very large ones.

Social stratification is a concept involving the "classification of people into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."

Secularization is the activity of changing something (art or education or society or morality etc.) so it is no longer under the control or influence of religion.

The relationship between capitalism and modernity is a salient issue, perhaps best demonstrated in Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) and Simmel's The Philosophy of Money (1900). Economic sociology may be said to have begun with Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1835–40) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). Marx's historical materialism would attempt to demonstrate how economic forces influence the structure of society on a fundamental level. Émile Durkheim'sThe Division of Labour in Society was published in 1922, whilst Max Weber's Economy and Society was released in the same year.

Main scholars of this period:Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim,

Max Weber

Other scholarAlfred Marshal

Thorstein Veblen,

Vilfredo Pareto,

Joseph Schumpeter…

The contemporary period of economic sociology, also known as new economic sociology, was consolidated by the 1985 work of Mark Granovetter titled "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness". These works elaborated the concept of embeddedness, which states that economic relations between individuals or firms take place within existing social relations (and are thus structured by these relations as well as the greater social structures of which those relations are a part).

Social network analysis has been the primary methodology for studying this phenomenon. Granovetter's theory of the strength of weak ties and Ronald Burt's concept of structural holes are two best known theoretical contributions of this field.

A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations) and a complex set of the dyadic ties between these actors. The social network perspective provides a clear way of analyzing the structure of whole social entities. The study of these structures uses social network analysis to identify local and global patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics.

Granovetter's paper "The Strength of Weak Ties" is a highly influential sociology paper.

In marketing, information science, or politics, weak ties enable reaching populations and audiences that are not accessible via strong ties.

The concepts and findings of this work were later published in the monograph Getting A Job.

Fred L. Block

James S. Coleman

Mark Granovetter

Harrison White

Paul DiMaggio

Joel M. Podolny

Richard Swedberg

Viviana Zelizer and

others.

Economic sociology is an attempt by sociologists to redefine in sociological terms questions traditionally addressed by economists. It is thus also an answer to attempts by economists (such as Gary Becker) to bring economic approaches – in particular utility maximisation and game theory – to the analysis of social situations that are not obviously related to production or trade.

Socioeconomics

Economic sociology is sometimes synonymous with socioeconomics. In most cases, however, socioeconomists focus on the social impact of very specific economic changes, such as the closing of a factory, market manipulation, new natural gas regulation, and so on.