Karl Polanyi: “The market mechanism moreover created the delusion of economic determinism as a general law for all human society.. To attempt to apply economic determinism to all human societies is little short of fantastic. Nothing is more obvious to the student of social anthropology than the variety of institutions found to be compatible with practically identical instruments of production. Only since the market was permitted to grind the human fabric into the featureless uniformity of selenic erosion has man’s institutional creativeness been in abeyance.”
Polanyi, Karl. 1947. “Our Obsolete Market Mentality: Civilization Must Find a New Thought Pattern.” Commentary 3: 109-117.
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This new Block & Somers’ The Power of Market Fundamentalism: Karl Polanyi’s Critique has found a place of honor on my bookshelf. Polanyi’s powerful intellectual legacy and its insightful analysis presented in this excellent book are essential foundations for every economic sociologist and political economist.

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