The Language of Economics
Socially Constructed Vocabularies and Assumptions
Published on 7. June 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
XX, 131 pages
978-3-319-81646-3 (ISBN)
Description
This Palgrave Pivot demonstrates that the inherited vocabularies of economics and other social sciences contain socially constructed words and theories that bias our very understanding of history and markets, bridging the empirical and moral dimensions of economics in general and inequality in particular. Wealth, GDP, hierarchies, and inequality are socially constructed words infused with moral overtones that academic philosophers and policy analysts have used to raise questions about "fairness" and "justice." This short intellectual and epistemological history explores and elaborates a limited number of key inequality-related terms, concepts, and mental images invented by centuries of economists and others. The author challenges us to question the assumptions made concerning presumably value-free concepts such as inequality, wealth, hierarchies, and the policy goals a nation can be pursuing.
More details
Edition
Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2016
Language
English
Place of publication
Cham
Switzerland
Publishing group
Springer International Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
XX, 131 p.
Dimensions
Height: 21 cm
Width: 14.8 cm
Weight
2055 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-319-81646-3 (9783319816463)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-33981-8
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2016
Palgrave Macmillan
€53.49
Shipment within 10-15 days
Person
Robert E. Mitchell is a retired Foreign Service Officer and former Professor of urban and regional studies at Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Florida State University. He also directed two survey research centers, served as executive director of two state-level task forces, and headed a national task force on family policy. He served as a Behavioral Science Adviser for the Near East Bureau of the United States Agency for International Development, followed by long-term Foreign Service posts in Egypt, Yemen, and Guinea-Bissau.
Content
1. Economists' Epistemological Challenges2. The Trajectory of the First Social Science3. An Overview of Socially Constructed Mental Models and Vocabularies4. From Metaphor to Fact: The Early History of Creating a New Language of Markets & Economies5. Value Judgments Regarding the Meaning of Wealth6. Alternative Values and Mental Models: The Recurring Challenge of Inequality7. The Long-Standing Interest in the Meanings, Causes, and Consequences of Inequality8. Is the Past a Reliable Prologue for the Future of Economics?