The Language of Economics
Socially Constructed Vocabularies and Assumptions
Published on 27. July 2016
XX, 131 pages
978-3-319-33981-8 (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
Series
Edition
1st ed. 2016
Language
English
Place of publication
Cham
Switzerland
Publishing group
Springer International Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
XX, 131 p.
File size
1,93 MB
ISBN-13
978-3-319-33981-8 (9783319339818)
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 Challenges.- 2 The Trajectory of the First Social Science.- 3 An Overview of Socially Constructed Mental Models and Vocabularies.- 4 From Metaphor to Fact: The Early History of Creating a New Language of Markets & Economies.- 5 Value Judgments Regarding the Meaning of Wealth.- 6 Alternative Values and Mental Models: The Recurring Challenge of Inequality.- 7 The Long-Standing Interest in the Meanings, Causes, and Consequences of Inequality.-8 Is the Past a Reliable Prologue for the Future of Economics?.
