1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781070403321

Autore

Fourcade Marion <1968->

Titolo

Economists and societies [[electronic resource] ] : discipline and profession in the United States, Britain, and France, 1890s to 1990s / / Marion Fourcade

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, : Princeton University Press, c2009

ISBN

1-282-93601-8

9786612936012

1-282-45791-8

9786612457913

0-691-11760-8

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (413 p.)

Collana

Princeton studies in cultural sociology

Classificazione

83.01

Disciplina

330.09/04

Soggetti

Economists - United States

Economists - Great Britain

Economists - France

Economics - United States - History - 20th century

Economics - Great Britain - History - 20th century

Economics - France - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction. Economics and Society -- Chapter One. Institutional Logics in Comparative Perspective -- Chapter Two. The United States: Merchant Professionals -- Chapter Three. Britain: Public-Minded Elites -- Chapter Four. France: Statist Divisions -- Conclusion: Economists and Societies -- Appendix -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Economists and Societies is the first book to systematically compare the profession of economics in the United States, Britain, and France, and to explain why economics, far from being a uniform science, differs in important ways among these three countries. Drawing on in-depth interviews with economists, institutional analysis, and a wealth of



scholarly evidence, Marion Fourcade traces the history of economics in each country from the late nineteenth century to the present, demonstrating how each political, cultural, and institutional context gave rise to a distinct professional and disciplinary configuration. She argues that because the substance of political life varied from country to country, people's experience and understanding of the economy, and their political and intellectual battles over it, crystallized in different ways--through scientific and mercantile professionalism in the United States, public-minded elitism in Britain, and statist divisions in France. Fourcade moves past old debates about the relationship between culture and institutions in the production of expert knowledge to show that scientific and practical claims over the economy in these three societies arose from different elites with different intellectual orientations, institutional entanglements, and social purposes. Much more than a history of the economics profession, Economists and Societies is a revealing exploration of American, French, and British society and culture as seen through the lens of their respective economic institutions and the distinctive character of their economic experts.