All posts by IKPS

Cangiani, Thomasberger: Karl Polanyi. Economy & Society

Publications

Cangiani, M. and Thomasberger, C. (Eds.). (2018). Karl Polanyi. Economy & Society. Cambridge: Polity Press. 

‘Few figures are more crucial to understanding the upheavals of our contemporary era than Karl Polanyi. In a world riven by social and economic crises, from rising inequality to the decay of democratic institutions and profound technological disruption, Polanyi’s path-breaking account of the dynamics of market capitalism and his defence of society and nature against the dangerous tendencies of the market capitalist system are more relevant than ever.

This book brings together Polanyi’s most important articles and essays to give a unique selection of his essential shorter writings, mixing classic texts with significant but previously little-known pieces. It highlights the coherence and richness of Polanyi’s theoretical and political approach, making it indispensable for understanding his overarching intellectual contribution. The volume includes his interwar writings, which deal with the world economic crisis and the socialist alternative to conservative and fascist developments; his reflection on political theory and the international situation after the war; and his comparative studies of economic institutions. Polanyi’s political writings are complemented and supported by the critique of economic determinism and what he termed ‘our obsolete market mentality’.

This book is an invaluable companion to Polanyi’s masterpiece, The Great Transformation, and an essential resource for students and scholars of political economy, sociology, history and political philosophy. 

 

The book can be purchased here: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Economy+and+Society%3A+Selected+Writings-p-9781509523313

 

Brie, Thomasberger: Karl Polanyi’s Vision of a Socialist Transformation

Publications

Brie, M. and Thomasberger, C. (Eds.). (2017). Karl Polanyi’s Vision of a Socialist Transformation. Montréal: Black Rose Books.

The political and economic turmoil of the decade following the financial crisis has seen a resurgence of interest in the work of philosopher and social theorist Karl Polanyi (1886-1964). International grassroots resistance, as well as neo-fascist reactions, to the austerity, alienation and environmental upheaval of neo-liberalism is widely seen as lending support to the main theses of Polanyi’s 1944 masterpiece The Great Transformation. However, the overtly socialist aspects of Polanyi’s work are often understated. In Karl Polanyi’s Vision of a Socialist Transformation, leading researchers Michael Brie (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation) and Claus Thomasberger (University of Applied Sciences, Berlin) redress this balance, bringing together central figures in Polanyi studies to provide an essential introduction to the contemporary importance of Polanyi’s thinking on freedom, community, and the socialist transformation of market society. This book also includes five essays by Polanyi translated into English for the first time. 

The book features essays from Nancy Fraser (New School for Social Research, New York), Kari Polanyi Levitt and Gareth Dale.

The book can be purchased here: http://blackrosebooks.net/products/view/Karl+Polanyi%27s+Vision+of+a+Socialist+Transformation/83466

Dani Rodrik: Karl Polanyi and Globalization’s Wrong Turn

Events, Media
POLANYI LECTURES 2019

In April and May of 2019, the Department of Socioeconomics at WU Vienna organised the Polanyi Lectures, which were part of the framework program of the International Karl Polanyi Conference 2019. The lectures, co-organized  by the Institute for Multi-Level Governance and Development, welcomed:

  • Dani Rodrik, economist and Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, 
  • Jamie Peck, Canada Research Chair in Urban & Regional Political Economy, Distinguished University Scholar, and Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and
  • Marguerite Mendell, Director of the Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy Montreal.

In his lecture ‘Karl Polanyi and Globalization’s Wrong Turn’, Dani Rodrik argues: 

“Globalization took a wrong turn when it overlooked Polanyi’s central insight that markets need to be embedded in institutions, both for effectiveness and legitimacy. The brief period of Bretton Woods-style globalization in the decades following World War II was more Polanyiesque in so far it did not question the centrality of national economic management and regulation. Constructing a viable globalization will require going back to that central insight, though the results are unlikely to look much like the Bretton Woods regime.”

You can watch the full lecture here or read the transcript of the lecture below (PDF) : 

Further Links: 
Dani Rodrik: Karl Polanyi and Globalization’s wrong turn – Transcript of the lecture (PDF)
Read the excerpt of Rodrik’s talk in the IWM Post, the Magazine of the Institute for Human Sciences (p. 10) 
Detailed Program Polanyi Lectures (PDF)
Karl Polanyi und die falsche Wende der Globalisierung – Paulo Freire Institute Austria 
(German only) 

 

 

 

 

 

Freedom for all in a complex society

IKPS-Goal

 Current market society celebrates individual freedom to choose. While acknowledging the virtues of non-conformism and market freedom, this economistic dominance is endangering the positive freedom to live in a democratic society, which shapes its future collectively. A democratic mode of living needs to strike the balance between the individual right to choose and the societal necessity of a democratic polity to create rules and infrastructures that enable freedom for all. >>> read in more detail

Kari Polanyi Levitt: From the Great Transformation to the Great Financialization

Publications

Polanyi Levitt, K. (2013): From the Great Transformation to the Great Financialization. On Karl Polanyi and other Essays. London: Zed Books Ltd. 

Polanyi Levitt, K. (2020): Die Finanzialisierung der Welt. Karl Polanyi und die neoliberale Transformation der Weltwirtschaft. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa

Kari Polanyi-Levitt’s book ‘From the Great Transformation to the Great Financialization’, that compares the dynamics of the Great Transformation of the 1930s with the Great Financialization of recent decades, has already been published in 2013.
As of April 2020, it will also be available in german. In it,  Polanyi Levitt highlights the timeliness of Karl Polanyi and shows him as Hayek’s opponent. Having worked in research and practice of development policies in the Caribbean for many years, Polanyi-Levitt tackles topics like neoliberal globalization, the erosion of national leeway, concepts of a new development and many more.

The german edition can be ordered here in advance: https://www.beltz.de/de/fachmedien/soziologie/produkte/produkt_produktdetails/39138-die_finanzialisierung_der_welt.html

Find the original (english) version here: 
https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/from-the-great-transformation-to-the-great-financialization/

 

Dale, Holmes, Markantonatou: Karl Polanyi’s Political and Economic Thought

Publications

Dale, G., Holmes, C., Markantonatou, M. (Eds.) (2019): Karl Polanyi’s Political and Economic Thought. A Critical Guide. Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda Publishing.

Maria Markantonatou, board-member of IKPS, co-edited a new book on Polanyi’s Political and Economic Thought, which was published on 25th July 2019. It offers a comprehensive introduction to Polyani’s and is therefore ideal for students engaging with Polanyi’s work for the first time.

The work of Karl Polanyi has become a central reference point for scholars in a variety of traditions and disciplines within the social sciences, including international relations, international political economy, economic sociology and economic anthropology. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Polanyi’s political and economic thought by examining the key themes that run throughout it: economic ideas, commodification, money, the gold standard, geopolitical economy, the state, class, fascism, democracy and knowledge.

Each chapter introduces the relevant aspects of Polanyi’s writings, covering important terminology and the position of the theme in relation to his work more broadly. The contributions seek to engage critically with Polanyi’s ideas, analysing both the strengths and weaknesses, as well as highlighting continuing points of relevance to contemporary issues and debates.

The book celebrates the diversity of Polanyi’s political and economic thought whilst encouraging the reader to see it as a whole and not as a set of fragmented concepts. It is an ideal introduction for students engaging with Polanyi’s work for the first time.

It can be purchased here: https://www.agendapub.com/books/68/karl-polanyis-political-and-economic-thought

ÖZS: The Great Transformation and Contemporary Capitalism

Publications

Austrian Journal of Sociology (ÖZS), Issue 2/2019
Karl Polanyi: The Great Transformation and Contemporary Capitalism

In June 2019, the ÖZS published an issue focussing on Polanyi’s work and Contemporary Capitalism. It includes articles from our board as well as other authors such as Marcus Gräser, Marguerite Mendell, Bop Jessop, Ngai-Ling Sum, Claus Thomasberger, Michael Brie, Sabine Frerichs, Ernst Langthaler, Elke Schüßler, Klaus Dörre and more.

It can be accessed here: https://www.springerprofessional.de/springerprofessional-de/oesterreichische-zeitschrift-fuer-soziologie-2-2019/16661342

Falter Supplement and Book

Publications

Karl Polanyi: Wiederentdeckung eines Jahrhundertdenkers
Brigitte Aulenbacher, Markus Marterbauer, Andreas Novy, Armin Thurnher,
Falter Verlag

In 2018, inspired by the second Austrian Polanyi-conference, as part of which the IKPS was founded, the Austrian weekly newspaper ‘Falter’ published a supplement called  ‘Transformation of capitalism?’, which was all about Polanyi’s life and oeuvre.

Right on time for the third congress on Polanyi in Budapest and Vienna in 2019, this supplement – revised and extended by some texts – was published as a book. It includes contributions from Michael Brie, Sabine Lichtenberger, Peter Rosner, Elisabeth Springer, Claus Thomasberger and many more as well as an interview with Kari Polanyi Levitt conducted by Michael Burawoy.

The Falter supplement can be downloaded here (german only): https://wien.arbeiterkammer.at/service/studien/WirtschaftundPolitik/falterbeilagen/Karl_Polanyi.html  

The book can be bought here (german only):
https://shop.falter.at/karl-polanyi.html

GLOBAL DIALOGUE VOLUME 9/3

Publications

Global Dialogue Vol. 9/3 (December 2019).
Magazine of the  International Sociological Association
Aulenbacher/Novy

The issue celebrates the 75th anniversary of Karl Polanyis ‘The Great Transformation’ with various articles covering the intellectual context which has been of relevance for the historical origin of The Great Transformation. Authors like Fred Block, Gareth Dale, Chris Hann or Margaret R. Somers, who wrote a lot on Polanyi’s life and work, contribute to the issue by analyzing  a range of economic, social and political developments of the last decades through the lens of Polanyi’s perspectives.

Other topics: Migration, Sociology from Senegal, Migration

Note: At the moment, the  issue is only available in English. It will be published in 16 other languages within the next two months.

It can be downloaded here:  http://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/volume-9-issue-3/