SOC121 Economy
and Society Winter 2007
WLH 2111
MWF 11:00-11:50
Akos
Rona-Tas
Office
Hours:
M-W
488
SSB
phone:
858-534-4699
email:
aronatas@ucsd.edu
Economics provides us with a valuable, powerful
but
highly stylized understanding of our material lives. It maintains that
society
is a collection of independent individuals each acting in a rational
manner to
pursue his or her own self-interests. This fiction is encapsulated in
the idea
of the market where selfish individuals are in constant competition
with each
other. This vision is deeply soaked into our everyday understanding of
the
world of money, business, work and consumption.
This course offers a different perspective on
economic
action. It will emphasize that when we work, buy, sell or calculate, we
still
act within the social context around us. We do not act alone but often
in
concert with other people, we rarely calculate but often act on
impulse, on
trust or out of habit, we do not arrive at our goals independently but
negotiate them with others, our motivation is not always selfish but
often
considerate of others. We also must make sense of our environment and
our own
wishes and here we often act as a product of our own culture.
There is a class project for this course. You
will have
to write a research paper based on interviewing four individuals about
their
labor-market experiences. The interview will have two parts: you will
conduct a
guided but unstructured interview with your respondents, and you will
also fill
out a short job
history questionnaire for them. You
have to complete your interviews by Feb 23. You will write your paper
based on
your case studies incorporating the conceptual material covered in
class. This
paper is due in two installments. Your first draft is due on March 7
and your
final paper is due on the last day of the final exam. Papers should be
typed or
printed, and the final paper should run between 10-15 double spaced
pages. Click
here to get more detailed guidelines.
There will be also two exams on the readings
and the
lectures.
Late work (but not the final paper) is accepted
for half
credit for a week passed the due date. After that, it is not credited.
The readings are on electronic reserve.
For each reading there are a couple of
questions
that are designed to guide you through. The two exams will be a random
selection among these questions. Click on each reading to find the
questions.
Grading:
First exam 15%
Second exam 15%
Interviewing 10%
First Draft 10%
Final Paper 40%
Class participation: 10%
COURSE
SCHEDULE
Introduction
to the Economic Approach
Jan 8 Introduction to the Course
Jan 10 The Economic Approach I
Recommended:
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations,
Jan 12 The Economic Approach II
Friedman, Milton. 1953. "Methodology of
Positive Economics."
In Essays in Positive Economics. University of Chicago Press
<>
Recommended:
Blaug, Mark. 1982. The methodology of economics, or, How economists
explain.
Hausman, Daniel M. 1992. The inexact and separate science of
economics.
Samuelson, Paul A. and William D. Nordhaus. 1998. Economics. 16th
Edition.
Jan 15 Martin Luther King Holiday
Basic
Conceptual Tools
<>Jan 17 Rationality
Elster, Jon. 1990. When Rationality Fails.
Pp. 19-47
in The Limits of Rationality, edited by Karen Schweers Cook and
Margaret Levi.
Chicago: Chicago University Press
Karen Schweers Cook and Margaret Levi.
Recommended:
Elster, Jon. 1979. Ulysses and the Sirens : studies in rationality
and
irrationality.
Simon, Herbert A. 1986. Rationality in
Psychology and
Economics. Journal of Business 59/4
Dawes, Robyn. 1988. Rational Choice in an
Uncertain
World.
Green, Donald P. and Ian Shapiro. 1994. Pathologies of rational
choice
theory : a critique of applications in political science.
Jan 19 Interest I.
Recommended:
Weber, Max. 1991(1902). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of
capitalism.
Translated by Talcott Parsons, introduction by Anthony Giddens.
Hammersmith,
Hirschman, Albert O. 1977. The Passions and the Interests: Political
Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph. Princeton:
Jan 22 Interest II.
Recommended:
Simon, Herbert A. 1999. Altruism and Economics.
American
Economic Review 83/2
Jan 24 Interest III.
Hardin,
Garrett.
1968. "The Tragedy
of the Commons." Science 162
<>
Recommended:
Sen, Amartya. 1977. Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory. Philosophy and Public Affairs 6:317-44
Jan 26 Selfishness and Economics
Recommended:
Elster, Jon. 1985. "Sadder but Wiser? Rationality and the Emotions." Social Science Information
Jan 29 Embeddedness I.
Recommended:
Polanyi, Karl. 1957/1992. The Economy as Instituted Process. Pp. 29-52 in The Sociology of Economic Life
Jan 31 Embeddedness II.
Recommended:
Uzzi, Brian. 1996. The Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness for the Economic Performance of Organizations - The Network Effect. American Sociological Review, AUG, V61(N4):674-698.
Feb 2 First examination
Feb 5 Social Capital I
Granovetter,
Mark. 1973. The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology,
78:1360-80
Recommended:
Burt, Ronald S. 1992.
Structural Holes.
Feb 9 History and Path Dependence
David, Paul A.
1986.
Understanding the Economics of QWERTY: The Necessity of History. Pp.
30-49 in
Economic History and the Modern Economist, edited by William N. Parker.
New
York: Basil Blackwell
Recommended:
Arthur, Brian. 1994. "Positive Feedbacks in the Economy." In
Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy.
McGuire, Patrick, Mark Granovetter and Michael Schwartz. 1993. Thomas Edison and the Social Construction of the Early Electricity Industry. Pp.213-246 in Explorations in Economic Sociology
Feb 12 Path Dependence
Rona-Tas, Akos. 1998. Social Capital and Path Dependence. Sociology of the Post-communist Economic Transformation. East European Politics and Societies. Winter, 1998 V12(N1):107-131.
Feb 14 Labor Markets I
Discussion of the class project
HERE IS A LINK TO
THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE PROJECT
Feb 16 Labor Markets II.
Feb 21 Labor Markets III.
Feb 23 Discussion
INTERVIEWS COMPLETED
Feb 26 Organizations I.
Simon, Herbert A. 1991. Organizations and Markets. The Journal of
Economic
Perspectives 5/2
Dalton, Melville. 1959/1992. Men Who Manage. Pp.315-344. in The Sociology of Economic Life
Feb 28 Organizations II.
March 2 Organizations III.
Paul J. DiMaggio and Walter W. Powell. 1983. The Iron Cage Revisited. Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review 48/2
March 5 Second Midterm Examination
March 7 Culture I
Richard Thaler. 1999. Mental Accounting Matters.
Journal of
Behavioral Decision Making 12
FIRST DRAFT DUE
March 9 Culture II
Zelizer, Viviana. 1978/1992. Human Values and the Market: The Case of Life Insurance and Death in 19th Century America. Pp. 285-304 in The Sociology of Economic Life
Leidner, Robin. 1993/1998. Over the Counter. Pp. 282-294 in Amy S. Wharton, Working in America.
Zelizer, Viviana. Culture and Consumption in Handbook of Economic Sociology
March 16
Review
FINAL PAPER DUE AT THE TIME THE FINAL EXAM IS SCHEDULED
HERE IS A LINK TO
THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE PROJECT