After Polanyi: Sociological Theory, Social Mobilization and the New Great Transformation

• In Event: 038 - Theory Section Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 10. Social, Economic, and Political Dynamics

Abstract

Karl Polanyi’s seminal work on the Great Transformation of society with the industrial revolution analyzed destructive effects of the new market liberalism that inverted the former embeddedness of economic activity within society. He foretold continued social destabilization as the neoclassical economic system evolved. Societal damage continued with the Great Depression and periodic recessions. Financial controls minimized damage until recently. Their abandonment culminated in the Great Recession of 2008-9. Now the world faces a New Great Transformation of unprecedented magnitude. The history of sociology would suggest a resurgent interest in the great processes of societal change before us. However, this author finds little recent scholarship addressing the massive societal-economic-ecological transformations now inevitable, though largely uncertain. This paper asserts the necessity for a large-scale social mobilization to achieve new located social formations for society to respond effectively to the catastrophic convergence of climate disturbance, global financial crises, agricultural collapse, escalating regional conflicts, migrations, and political and societal destabilization. That seems the only viable path to mitigate accelerating environmental and societal destruction beyond what Polanyi could have imagined. Might sociology assert its rightful role in seeking scientific understanding of these processes and societal responses necessary to assure survival as the chaos grows?

Author

• Robert MacNeil Christie, Calfiornia State University, Dominguez Hills