Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In the introduction of the 2001 edition of The Great Transformation, Fred Block argues that we all have much to learn from the insights of Karl Polanyi. Relying on Polanyi’s arguments in the Great Transformation is not only useful in order to understand the history of market liberalism, but also for the contemporary debate on globalization and its contestation. The work of Karl Polanyi is inspiring a lot of academics nowadays who are studying the global uprisings since 2008. Some academics – like Block - argue that neoliberals embrace the same utopian visions of their predecessors which lead to counter-movements that are resisting marketization processes and its political and economic consequences. Relying on Polanyi’s work, I point to a danger of interpreting the current neoliberal order as a similar trend towards marketization as in the period that Polanyi is dealing with in his book. Misinterpreting the current marketization project raises questions not only about the feasibility of re-embedding the economy back into society, but also about the desirability of disembedding society from the economy. In concrete, I argue that the utopian character shifted from the marketization project to the counter-movements that are trying to resist and change it. This also raises questions about the role of social scientists in (studying) the process of social change in the twenty-first century.