Lancaster University

The syllabus will offer students an introduction to key concepts of economic sociology and political economy. Major topics will normally be drawn from the following:

• Introduction – Living in an Age of Economic Crisis
• What are markets? – Smith
• ‘The Great Transformation’ and fictitious commodities - Polanyi
• Embeddedness and the ‘new’ economic sociology – Granovetter and Smelser
• Division of labour, markets of labour – Durkheim and Marx
• Money and economic sociology – Zelizer
• Debt, finance and capitalism – Graeber and Crouch
• Financialization of everyday life – Martin
• Credit and consumerism – Ritzer and Marron
• Debt society and inequality – Porter and Dorling

This module will provide students with an opportunity to:

·        master core ‘threshold’ concepts of economic sociology and political economy, thereby affording progress to more advanced courses in the 3^rdyear;

·        analyse critically and compare and contrast competing and complementary perspectives on the social constitution, particularities and social effects of economic phenomena, specifically markets, money and credit;

·        read, reflect upon and evaluate a range of key texts of economic sociology; and

• develop a sophisticated sociological understanding of the importance and complexity of contemporary economic processes.

Students will be able to develop the following skills:

·        researching, summarising and critically assessing a variety of seminal texts and associated commentaries;

·        advanced academic writing and analysis including referencing skills;

·        oral presentation and debate during seminars and workshops; and

• appreciation of and confidence in interdisciplinary work.

On successful completion of the module students will be able to demonstrate:

·  familiarity with several essential writings on economic sociology and political economy, particularly regarding markets, finance and commodification;

· the ability to discuss critically essential concepts of these disciplines, together with appropriate examples;

· the ability to relate sociological perspectives and theories to analyses of contemporary economic life and problems;

· the ability to read and analyse critically a wide range of key texts;

the ability to express orally and debate complex ideas and evidence regarding social scientific approaches to the study of economic phenomena.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to demonstrate:

· Research, summarising and evaluative skills (students are required to research, read and summarize material from many sources: books, articles, internet);

· Writing skills (students are required to produce an essay for their module assessment);

· Referencing skills (students are required to use academic references in their written work);

· Presentational skills (students are required to make presentations in seminars);

1 x 3000 word essay (50% – over spring break) plus 20% other (a critical review/analytical exercise of a reading, 1500 words – for week 16) and exam 30% (2 questions in 2 hours – summer term)

Biggart, N.W. (ed.) (2002)Readings in Economic Sociology, Malden (MA): Blackwell.

Crouch, C. (2011)The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism, Cambridge: Polity.

Dorling, D. (2011)Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists, London: Policy Press.

Durkheim, E. (1984)The Division of Labour in Society, trans. W.D. Hall, Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Ferguson, N. 2002.The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000. London: Penguin.

Fine, B & A. Saad-Filho (2004)Marx’s ‘Capital’, Sterling (VA) & London: Pluto Press.

Fligstein, N. (2001)The Architecture of Markets: An Economic Sociology of 21^stCentury Capitalist Societies, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Graeber, D. (2011)Debt: The First 5000 Years, New York: Melville House.

Granovetter, M. & R. Swedberg (eds) (2001)The Sociology of Economic Life(2^ndedition), Boulder: Westview Press.

Hann, C. and K. Hart (eds)Market and Society: The Great Transformation Today, Cambridge: CUP.

Marron, D. (2009)Consumer Credit in the United States: A Sociological Perspective from the 19^thCentury to the Present, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Martin, R. (2002)Financialization of Daily Life, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Mellor, M. (2010)The Future of Money: From Financial Crisis to Public Resource, New York: Pluto Press.

Polanyi, K. (1945/1991)The Great Transformation: Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, Boston: Beacon Press.

Porter, K. (ed.) (2011)Broke: How Debt Bankrupts the Middle Class, Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Ritzer, G. (2001)Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption: Fast Food, Credit Cards and Casinos, London: Sage.

Slater, D. & F. Tonkiss (2000)Market Society: Markets and Modern Social Theory, Malden (MA): Polity.

Smelser, N. and R. Swedberg (eds.),The Handbook of Economic Sociology(2^ndedition), Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Tonkiss, F. (2006)Contemporary Economic Sociology: Globalisation, Production, Inequality, London: Routledge

Zelizer, V. (2011)Economic Lives: How Culture Shapes the Economy, Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.