Methodological individualism versus class analysis : the “great recession” as a test case.

Resumo

While the mainstream economic analysis relates with the other branches of social sciences in an “imperialistic” perspective, an alternative paradigm of social reproduction can contribute to develop an interdisciplinary approach to political economy. Originated in the contributions of Classical economists and Marx and currently developed by the critical schools of economic thought, the paradigm of social reproduction rejects the individualistic foundations of mainstream economics and recognize social classes and related conflicts on production and distribution as essential elements to make economic analysis consistent with the current reality of capitalist development and crisis. In this sense, the alternative paradigm suggests an interpretation of the recent “Great Recession” based on the specific anthropology of consumption of social classes within capitalism and its implications on the pace of aggregate expenditure. Empirical evidence gives support to this interpretation, which also offers some insights about the possible relations between the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of capitalist crisis and the international development of progressive social movements.

Referências

Althusser, L. (1971). Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. In (id) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Arrow, K.J. (1994). Methodological Individualism and Social Knowledge. The American Economic Review, 84 (2), 1-9.

Baran, P. & Sweezy P.M. (1966). Monopoly Capital. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Bataille, G. (1991). The Accursed Share, Volume 1: Consumption (1949). New York: Zone Books

Bauman, Z. (2000). Modern Liquidity. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Boulding, K.E. (1969). Economics as a Moral Science. American Economic Review, 59(1), 1-12.

Blanchard, O. (2000). Macroeconomics (2nd ed). London: Prentice Hall.

Blanchard, O., Amighini A., Giavazzi F. (2013) Macroeconomics. A European Perspective. (2nd ed). Harlow: Pearson Education.

Brancaccio, E. (2008). Solvency and labour effort in a monetary theory of reproduction. European Journal of Economic and Social Systems, 21, 195-211.

Brancaccio, E. (2011). Some Contradictions in “Mainstream” Interpretations of the Crisis and New Perspectives in the Critique of Economic Theory and Policy. In Brancaccio E. & Fontana G. (eds) The global economic crisis. New perspectives on the Critique of Economic Theory and Policy.London-New York: Routledge.

Brancaccio, E. (2016). For an International Social Standard on Capital Movements, European Parliament, Conference “Resistance and alternatives to free trade”, GUE/NGL Group, 7 December.

Brancaccio, E. & Califano, A. (2018). Anti-Blanchard macroeconomics. A comparative approach. Edward Elgar.

Brancaccio, E. & Fontana G. (eds). (2011). The global economic crises. New perspectives on the Critique of Economic Theory and Policy. London-New York: Routledge.

Brancaccio, E., Ciccone R., Realfonzo R., Stirati, A., Suppa, D. (2010). Regime di accumulazione, distribuzione del reddito e crisi, Società Italiana degli Economisti, 51° Riunione scientifica annuale, Università di Catania, 15 ottobre.

Brancaccio, E. & Fontana, G. (2016). ῾Solvency rule’ and capital centralization in a monetary union. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 40(4), 1055–1075.

Cacioppo, J.T. & Berntson, G.G. (2002). Social neuroscience. In Cacioppo J.T., Berntson G. G., Adolphs R., Carter, C. S., Davidson R. J., McClintock M. K, McEwen B., Meaney M. J, Schacter D. L., Sternberg E. M, Suomi S. S., Taylor S. E, Foundations in social neuroscience. Cambridge: MIT Press, 3-10.

Carrier J.G. & Heyman, J. McC. (1997). Consumption and Political Economy. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 3(2), 355-273

Kalecki, M. (1939). Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations. London: Allen and Unwin.

Clarke, S. (1994). Marx’s Theory of crisis. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.

Dobb, M. (1939). Political economy and capitalism. New York: International Publisher.

Damasio, A. (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: Avon Books.

Della Porta, D. (2015). Social movements in times of austerity: bringing capitalism back into protest analysis. Cambridge Malden: Polity Press.

Della Porta, D. (2016). Bringing capitalism back in social movement analysis, mimeo.

Della Porta, D. & Keating, M. (2008). How many approaches in the social sciences? An epistemological introduction. In Della Porta and Keating (eds.), Approaches and methodologies in the social sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Easterling, S. (2003). Marx’s Theory of Economic crisis. International Socialist Review, 32, November-December.

Edgeworth, F.Y. (1981). Mathematical Psychics. London: Kegan Paul.

Fine, B. (2000). Economics Imperialism and Intellectual Progress: The Present as History of Economic Thought? History of Economics Review, 32, 10-36.

Fitoussi, J.P. & Stiglitz, J. (2009). The ways out of the crisis and the building of a more cohesive world. The Shadow GN, Chair’s Summary, LUISS Guido Carli, Rome, May 6-7.

Galbraith, J.K. (1998). The affluent society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Graeber, D. (2011). “Consumption”. Current Anthropology, 52(4) 489-511.

Graziani, A. (2003). The monetary theory of production. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Griffin, R., Pitts, M., Smith, R., Brook, A. (2011). Inequality at late Roman Baldock, UK: The impact of Social Factors on Health and Diet. Journal of Anthropological Research, 67(4), 533-556.

Hahn, F. (1982). The Neo-Ricardians. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 6(4), 353-374.

Hahn, F. (1985), In praise of economic theory. Money, Growth and Stability. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Hilferding, R. (2011) Il capitale finanziario(1910). Milano-Udine: Mimesis.

Hodges, M. (2008). Rethinking time’s arrow. Anthropological Theory, 8(4), 399-429.

Hutt, W.H. (1940). The Concept of Consumers’ Sovereignty. Economic Journal, 50(197), 66–77.

IMF and ILO (2010). The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion, Joint ILO-IMF conference in cooperation with the office of the Prime Minister of Norway, Oslo, 13 September.

IMF (2012). The Quest for Lasting Stability. Global Financial Stability Report, April 2012. World Economic and Financial Surveys, IMF Washington (DC).

Jevons, W.S. (1970). The Theory of Political Economy (1871). Baltimore: Penguin.

Lavoie, M. (2009). Introduction to Postkyeynesian Economics. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan.

Lawson, T. (2006). The Nature of Heterodox Economics. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 30, 483-505.

Lucarelli, S., Lunghini, G. (2012). The resistible rise of mainstream economics. The Dominant Theory and the Alternative Economic Theories.Bergamo: Bergamo University press - Sestante.

Marx, K. (1994). Il capitale. Critica dell’economia politica (1867-1885-1894). Libro I, II, III. Roma: Editori Riuniti.

Miller, D. (1995). Consumption and commodities. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24, 141-161.

Mirowski, P. (1984). Physics and the marginalist revolution. Cambridge Journal of economics, (8), 361-379.

Mirowski, P. (1988). Against mechanism; Protecting economics from science. Totowa NJ: Rowman and Littlefield.

O’Hara, P.H. (2000). Marx, Veblen and Contemporary Institutional Political Economy. Cheltenham: Elgar.

Pareto, V. (1906). Manual of Political Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pauli, J. (2011). Celebrating distinctions. Common and conspicuous weddings in rural Namibia. Ethnology, 50(2), 153-167.

Robbins, L. (1932). An essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. London: Macmillan.

Samuelson, P. (1947). Foundations of Economic Analysis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Stigler, G.J. (1984). Economics: The Imperial Science? The Scandinavian Journal of Economics 86(3), 301–313.

Tabellini, G. (2009). Il mondo torna a correre. L’Italia non si fermi. In Lezioni per il futuro, Il Sole 24 Ore.

Sen, A. (1977). Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory. Philosophy and Public Affairs, (6), 317-344.

Sweezy, P.M. (1942). The theory of capitalist development: principles of Marxian political economy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Veblen, T.B. (1899). The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions. New York: The Modern Library.

Walras, (1969). Elements of pure economics, London: Allen and Unwin.

##submission.citations.for##