Beyond the Market

Going against the mainstream of social theorizing, this excellent book is an attempt to reclaim a territory for sociology that has been increasingly occupied by either economists or sociologists-turned-economists. Beckert arrives at far-reaching conclusions and is not hesitant to spell them out unambiguously. His book represents a provocative and elegant contribution to the debate about the proper way of embedding markets in social governance structures. It reactivates the analytical program of sociology for an understanding of a terrain that the discipline has prematurely ceded to economics. It will have a wide readership and will offer itself, because of its clear writing, for wide use in teaching. -- Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Beckert has an independent mind and argues in an enlightened and interesting way that a sociological theory of action can improve economic analysis. His argument, which reflects his knowledge of contemporary economic theory, is sophisticated and up-to-date. -- Richard Swedberg, Stockholm University

Economic theory, which explains efficiency using formalized rational choice models, often simplifies human behavior to the point of distortion. This work finds such theory to be particularly weak in explaining such crucial forms of economic behavior as cooperation, innovation, and action under conditions of uncertainty.Beyond the Market launches a sociological investigation into economic efficiency. Prevailing economic theory, which explains efficiency using formalized rational choice models, often simplifies human behavior to the point of distortion. Jens Beckert finds such theory to be particularly weak in explaining such crucial forms of economic behavior as cooperation, innovation, and action under conditions of uncertainty--phenomena he identifies as the proper starting point for a sociology of economic action. Beckert levels an enlightened critique at neoclassical economics, arguing that understanding efficiency requires looking well beyond the market to the social, cultural, political, and cognitive factors that influence the coordination of economic action. Beckert searches social theory for the components of an alternative theory of action, one that accounts for the social embedding of economic behavior. In Durkheim and Parsons he finds especially useful approaches to cooperation; in Luhmann, a way to understand how people act under highly contingent conditions; and in Giddens, an understanding of creative action and innovation. Together, these provide building blocks for a research program that will yield a theoretically sophisticated understanding of how economic processes are coordinated and the ways that markets are embedded in social, cultural, and cognitive structures. Containing one of the most fully informed critiques of the neoclassical analysis of economic efficiency--as well as one of the most thoughtful blueprints for economic sociology--this book reclaims for sociology the study of one of the most important arenas of human action.