Description
Book SynopsisExamines economic sociology's principal assumptions, key explanatory concepts, and selected research sites. The author argues that economic activity is embedded in social and cultural relations, but also that power and the unintended consequences of rational purposive action must be factored in when seeking to explain or predict economic behavior.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 "A pioneer in economic sociology, Portes presents one of the best systematic efforts in the burgeoning attempt to bring sociological inquiry to economic studies. Though economic sociologists are more than likely to be already familiar with Portes's work, the author's emphasis on theory accumulation, or 'usable theory,' as proposed by Dietrich Rueschemeyer, makes this book exceptional... An exemplary combination of theoretical sophistication and methodological rigor, Portes's book is a must read for all economic sociologists."--Choice "Portes has written a fine book that presents a good case for the sociological perspective of economic processes and outcomes."--Eric Cheney, Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare "[T]he book can be fruitfully used as student's handbook to teach economic sociology, comparative political economy and sociology of development."--Filippo Barbera, Sociologica "I would ... recommend Portesian sociology to anyone needing an intelligent, lucid and thought-provoking vision of what 'middle range' theory might offer economic sociology beyond the preoccupation with 'embeddedness.'"--Patrick McGovern, British Journal of Sociology "Economic Sociology represents a positive step away from the assumptions about formal rationality and maximizing of subjective utility dominant in certain social science areas influenced by mainstream economics, and widens the scope for future research on the interaction between social forces and economic processes."--Rafael Khachaturian, Science and Society
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables ix Preface xi Chapter One: Economic Sociology: Past Achievements and Present Challenges 1 Chapter Two: The Assumptions That Ground the Field 10 Chapter Three: Social Capital 27 Chapter Four: The Concept of Institutions 48 Chapter Five: The Concept of Social Class 71 Chapter Six: Social Class (Continued) 101 Chapter Seven: The Informal Economy 130 Chapter Eight: Ethnic Enclaves and Middleman Minorities 162 Chapter Nine: Transnational Communities 195 Chapter Ten: Markets, Models, and Regulation 220 Notes 237 Bibliography 261 Index 291
