SOCI 252 - Morals and Markets: Economic Sociology

FC SSCI CD

4 credits
This is an introductory course to the sociological study of the capitalist economy and the social processes that comprise the market system. Neo-classical economics commonly assert that there are fundamental tensions between, on one hand, markets, profit-seeking and efficiency and, on another, social relations, personal ties, and systems of social and moral regulation. Economic sociologists challenge and revise these understandings, showing instead that economic institutions and behaviors are shaped by the same social structures that shape, e.g., political, religious and familial behavior. This course will explore a number of these supposed tensions, as well as how and why the embeddedness of markets within social structures matters.