The New Economic Sociology : A Reader (Paperback) (July 6, 2004)
by Frank Dobbin (Editor)
This anthology will be very useful for students of economic sociology at both the graduate or undergraduate level, and others who simply want an overview of this growing field will find it a valuable addition to their personal library. Dobbin's introduction is a highly intelligent, synthetic essay that both motivates the field and highlights its distinctive contributions.
Economic sociology is a rapidly expanding field, applying sociology's core insight--that individuals behave according to scripts that are tied to social roles--to economic behavior. It places homo economicus (that tried-and-true fictive actor who is completely rational, acts only out of self-interest, and has perfect information) in context. In this way, it places a construct into a framework that more closely approximates the world in which we live. But, as an academic field, economic sociology has lost focus. The New Economic Sociology remedies this.
The book comprises twenty of the most representative and widely read articles in the field's history--its classics--and organizes them according to four themes at the heart of sociology: institutions, networks, power, and cognition. Dobbin's substantial and engagingly written introduction (including his rich comparison of Yanomamo chest-beaters and Wall Street bond-traders) sets a clear framework for what follows. Gathering force throughout is Dobbin's argument that economic practices emerge through distinctly social processes, in which social networks and power resources play roles in the social construction of certain behaviors as rational or optimal. Not only does Dobbin provide a consummate introduction to the field and its history to students approaching the subject for the first time, but he also establishes a schema for interpreting the field based on an understanding of what economic sociology aims to achieve.

Readings in Economic Sociology (Blackwell Readers in Sociology (Paper))
by Nicole Woolsey Biggart (Editor)
Sociologists have rightfully claimed economy and economic activity as areas for their legitimate analysis. These articles, over thirty in total, reflect the best and latest thought in the exciting field of economic sociology. Beginning with the foundation of Smith, Marx, Engels, and Polanyi, the volume gathers some of the best writings by economic sociologists that consider national and world economies as both products and influences of society. Readings on economic action, capitalist states, globalizing markets, and the interactions between economy and culture all serve to construct a gripping overview of sociology's contributions to our understanding of economic life.
Introductory essays that place the readings in a theoretical perspective along with suggestions for further reading make this an ideal resource.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Nicole Woolsey Biggart is Professor of Management and Sociology at the University of California at Davis. She is the author of Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America (1989), and co-author (with Gary G. Hamilton and Marco Orrù) of The Economic Organization of East Asian Capitalism (1996).

The Architecture of Markets : An Economic Sociology of Twenty-First -Century Capitalist Societies
by Neil Fligstein
Gary G. Hamilton, American Journal of Sociology
"Deserves careful reading by everyone interested in the analysis of capitalist economies."
Review
Will undoubtedly redirect research attention and encourage new work on the rules and politics that structure market relations.

Economic Sociology: State, Market, and Society in Modern Capitalism
by C. Trigilia, Carlo Trigilia

Explorations in Economic Sociology
by Richard Swedberg (Editor)

Max Weber and the Idea of Economic Sociology (September 15, 2000) by Richard Swedberg
This book is unequivocally first-rate. Swedberg writes clearly, comprehensively, in a nuanced style, and with tremendous erudition. Max Weber and the Idea of Economic Sociology will be recognized as an invaluable work.
Review
Swedberg's magisterial work is required reading. . . . [His] exquisitely lucid presentation is buttressed by diagrams and tables that further clarify the discussion. Readers will come away with admiration for both the genius of Weber himself and this author, who engages the reader so forcefully in the Weberian intellectual enterprise. Unreservedly recommended.

The Economic Sociology of Capitalism (Paperback) (July 1, 2005)
by Victor Nee (Editor), Richard Swedberg (Editor)
An excellent contribution to the field. Not only are the editors and authors leading figures in the social sciences, but the individual contributions are always good and sometimes outstanding. Importantly, the book goes well beyond previous collections on economic sociology, which have overrelied on 'oppositional identity' with regard to economics and have been satisfied for too long with poking holes in specific economic arguments rather than developing coherent sociological ones. From the opening through all of the chapters, this book takes economics seriously--a necessary starting point for an effective economic sociology. Its focus on the institutions of capitalism represents an important first step to constructing economic-sociological theory. The chapters are varied in style and subject, which makes the book interesting and substantively rewarding.
This book represents a major step forward in the use of economic sociology to illuminate the nature and workings of capitalism amid the far-reaching changes of the contemporary era of global capitalism. For the past twenty years economic sociologists have focused on mesa-level phenomena of networks, but they have done relatively little to analyze capitalism as an overall system or to show how such phenomena emerge from and shape the dynamics of capitalism. The Economic Sociology of Capitalism seeks to change this, by presenting both big-picture analyses of capitalism and more focused pieces on institutions crucial to capitalism.
The book, which includes sixteen chapters by leading scholars in economic sociology, is organized around three broad themes. The first section addresses core issues and problems in the new study of capitalism; the second considers a variety of topics concerning America, the leading capitalist economy of the world; and the third focuses attention on the question of convergence stemming from the global transformation of capitalism and the challenge of explaining institutional change.
The contributions, which follow a foreword by economic historian Avner Greif and the editor's introduction, are by Mitchel Abolafia, James Baron and Michael Hannan, Mary C. Brinton, John Campbell, Gerald Davis and Christopher Marquis, Paul DiMaggio and Joseph Cohen, Peter Evans, Neil Fligstein, John Freeman, Francis Fukuyama, Ko Kuwabara, Victor Nee, Douglass C. North, AnnaLee Saxenian, Richard Swedberg, and Viviana Zelizer.

New Developments in Economic Sociology (International Library of Critical Writings in Economics) (September 5, 2005) Richard Swedberg (Editor)
Economic sociology has gone through an explosive development, both in the United States and in Europe, in recent years. These new developments are well represented in this work. Articles by key economic sociologists, such as Mark Granovetter, Pierre Bourdieu and Viviana Zelizer, have been included as well as studies by members of a new and rising generation. The topics that are covered include several classical ones, which modern economic sociologists have worked on for a long time, such as firms, markets, networks and the economics/sociology interface. During the last few years several studies have also appeared which deal with new areas, such as finance, law and economics, and entrepreneurship. The reader will finally also be able to follow recent advances in the understanding of the classics in economic sociology, including Weber, Schumpeter and Polanyi. The result is a colorful and unorthodox two volume collection which will be of interest to scholars and researchers alike.
Edited by Richard Swedberg, Professor of Sociology, Cornell University

Economics and Sociology
by Richard Swedberg
The boundary between economics and sociology is presently being redefined--but how, why, and by whom? Richard Swedberg answers these questions in this thought-provoking book of conversations with well-known economists and sociologists. Among the economists interviewed are Gary Becker, Amartya Sen, Kenneth Arrow, and Albert O. Hirschman; the sociologists include Daniel Bell, Harrison White, James Coleman, and Mark Granovetter. The picture that emerges is that economists and sociologists have paid little attention to each other during most of the twentieth century: social problems have been analyzed as if they had no economic dimension and economic problems as if they had no social dimension. Today, however, there is a dialogue between the two fields, as economists take on social topics and as sociologists become interested in rational choice and "new economic sociology." The interviewees describe how they came to challenge the present separation between economics and sociology, what they think of the various proposals to integrate the fields, and how they envision the future. The author summarizes the results of the conversations in the final chapter. The individual interviews also serve as superb introductions to the work of these scholars.

Essays in Economic Sociology
by Max Weber, Richard Swedberg (Editor)
Swedberg offers a comprehensive introduction to a neglected economic classic. This book will be of interest to intellectual historians, to sociologists, and to philosophers of science.
The writings of Max Weber (1864-1920) contain one of the most fascinating and sophisticated attempts ever made to create an economic sociology. Economic sociologist and Weber scholar Richard Swedberg has selected the most important of Weber's enormous body of writings on the topic, making these available for the first time in a single volume. The central themes around which the anthology is organized are modern capitalism and its relationships to politics, to law, and to culture and religion; a special section is devoted to theoretical aspects of economic sociology. Swedberg provides a valuable introduction illuminating biographical and intellectual dimensions of Weber's work in economic sociology, as well as a glossary defining key concepts in Weber's work in the field and a bibliographical guide to this corpus.
Weber's substantive views on economic sociology are represented in this volume through crucial excerpts from works such as his General Economic History and The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, but the reader can follow his attempt to construct a conceptual foundation for economic sociology in Economy and Society as well. Also included is Weber's celebrated inaugural lecture, "The Freiburg Address," along with a number of central but hitherto inaccessible writings. Though written nearly a century ago, Weber's work has the quality of a true classic, and the reader will find many ideas in his writings on economic topics that remain applicable in today's world. These include Weber's discussion of what is now called social capital, his analysis of the institutions needed for a well-functioning capitalist economy, and his more general attempt to introduce social structure into economic analysis. As this volume demonstrates, what basically motivated Weber to work with economic sociology was a realization shared by many economists and sociologists today: that the analysis of economic phenomena must include an understanding of the social dimension. Guided by volume editor Swedberg, the reader of this anthology discovers the significance and the enduring relevance of Weber's contribution to economic sociology.

The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism
by Richard Swedberg (Editor), Joseph A. Schumpeter
The renowned economist Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950) made seminal contributions not only to economic theory but also to sociology and economic history. His work is now attracting wide attention among sociologists, as well as experiencing a remarkable revival among economists. This anthology, which serves as an excellent introduction to Schumpeter, emphasizes his broad socio-economic vision and his attempt to analyze economic reality from several different perspectives. An ambitious introductory essay by Richard Swedberg uses many new sources to enhance our understanding of Schumpeter's life and work and to help analyze his fascinating character. This essay stresses Schumpeter's ability to draw on several social sciences in his study of capitalism.
Some of the articles in the anthology are published for the first time. The most important of these are Schumpeter's Lowell Lectures from 1941, "An Economic Interpretation of Our Time." Also included is the transcript of his lecture "Can Capitalism Survive?" (1936) and the high-spirited debate that followed. The anthology contains many of Schumpeter's classical sociological articles, such as his essays on the tax state, imperialism, and social classes. And, finally, there are lesser known articles on the future of private enterprise, on the concept of rationality in the social sciences, and on the work of Max Weber, with whom Schumpeter collaborated on several occasions.

The New Economic Sociology: Developments in an Emerging Field
by Mauro F. Guillen (Editor)