Reading Karl Polanyi for the Twenty-First Century: Market Economy as a Political Project

This volume revisits Karl Polanyi's analysis of the institutional separation of politics and the economy in the context of the nineteenth century market society to argue that the market economy is not a spontaneous process, but a "political project" realized through institutional changes whereby labor, land, money, and currently knowledge appear as commodities. The contributions explore the political dynamics of this commodification process, its implications for human life and livelihood, and the possibilities for the advent of a more viable order where the economy would be replaced under social control. With its interdisciplinary reach, the book is of interest to academics and graduate students in different fields such as economic sociology, political economy and social policy.