Social Economy
Social economy is a field of study about how people produce, distribute,
exchange, and use material resources to meet human needs, and in this process,
generate a culture. From a sociological perspective, an economy is organized
by symbolic interaction in the context of scarce resources. This field
of inquiry is about how people deal with scarcity, establish institutions,
and fulfill human values. Other perspectives on this subject include political
economy, civil economy, and cultural economy.
Political economy is a study about the way power and authority develop in
society. Theory and research focus on the relationship between markets and
states, but the subject is equally historical, and local-to-global. The subject
of power in the economy extends beyond institutional life.
Civil economy is about the way people make a living, create social institutions,
and find a common good in a political setting. It is about how people create
a public commons in a private market, how people govern themselves in systems
of exchange, and how people generate social standards in normative markets.
It is about how people invent things to overcome scarcity, how people create
hierarchies of oppression, and systems of justice and liberation in market
systems. Theory includes postulating the relationship between opposing principles
of an economy constructed in society. Opposing principles include individual
versus community, public versus private, and unity vs plurality. Research
focuses on the interface of exchange among business, government, and Third
sectors.
Cultural economy is about how a symbolic life is generated in midst of scarcity
and about the tension of differences among people in everyday life. Culture
is linked with the economy through symbolic interaction and broadly, through
human history, leading a student back to ancient civilization. This broad
inquiry begins with primitive symbols and rituals and moves forward through
history to include today's market system. Students examine and critique the
theory of Pierre Bourdieu regarding "accumulated prestige, celebrity, consecration"
and the dialectic of knowledge and recognition.
Related Books
A Civil Economy: Transforming the Marketplace
Available through
University of Michigan Press,
839 Greene Street,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209, USA.
Phone: 734-764-4388;
Fax: 734-615-1540.
Available through Amazon.com.
A Civil Republic: Beyond Capitalism and Nationalism
Available through Kumarian Press, 1294 Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield, CT
06002, USA. Order by toll free phone 800-289-2664, fax to 860-243-2867 or
internet at www.kpbooks.com.
Available in Europe through Eurospan, 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,
London WC2E 8LU, UK. Tel +44 (0)20 7240 0856; Fax +44 (0)20 7379 0609; E-mail
orders@edspubs.co.uk or internet
at www.eurospan.co.uk.
Available through Amazon.com.
Publisher Summary
In A Civil Republic, Severyn Bruyn argues that the United States, and the
world at large, is on the verge of a radical shift--dangerous but also full
of opportunity. In a world of injustice, ecological destruction, violence
and instability, weapons of mass destruction, and the rise of authoritarian
government, our ability to craft a secure future lies in creating a "civil
republic."
Bruyn envisions a system of governance that merges the core values of civil
society into a political economy that has reigned supreme since the end of
the Cold War. He sees a world in which religious institutions, health-care
systems, businesses, media, and governments could support values of honesty,
justice, and public health rather than stand subservient to corporate interests
and those of markets and nation-states. He explores ways to implement a new
model--one of public policy that builds a civil society beyond the conventions
of capitalism and nationalism.
This provocative book is accessible to undergraduates. At the same time, it
is a work of profound scholarship and wisdom. Philosophers, scholars and practitioners
of international relations, economics, political science, business, international
development, and international law will be treated to an informed and encouraging
vision for a sustainable future.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1. The Problem: Capitalist Nations
Chapter 1. Capitalism and Globalization: What’s the Problem?
Chapter 2. Civil Society: What’s This Central Idea?
Chapter 3. The Decline of Civil Society: Where Are We Going?
Part 2. The Solution: Civil Markets
Chapter 4. Two Models: Could a New Market Develop?
Chapter 5. A Theory of Development: How Is the New Model Applied?
Part 3. The Plan: Civil Development
Chapter 6. The Process of Development: What Are the Guidelines?
Chapter 7. The Mass Media: Who Owns It?
Chapter 8. The Market Struggle: Who Are the Agents of Change?
Part 4. Conclusion: The Global Picture
Chapter 9. A Global Political Order: How Does a Civil Polity Develop?
Chapter 10. A Civil Republic: How Do We Get There?
Glossary and Appendices
Glossary
Introduction to Appendices
Appendix A The Philosophy of Civil Society
Appendix B Popular Theories
of Civil Society
Appendix C The General Economy
Appendix D Mapping Markets
Appendix E Civil Corporations
and Associations
Appendix F Civil Development:
The Cultural Component
Appendix G Civil Rationale
for Markets
Appendix H A Public Philosophy
Appendix I Public Media
Alternatives
Appendix J A Republic
of Federations: The Frontier
Appendix K Government policies for federations
Appendix L Global Theaters of Action:
Civil Regimes.
Appendix M The Co-Development
of World Organizations
Appendix N Social Studies of the
Economy: New Directions
Appendix O Cultural Studies of the Economy:
New Directions
Appendix P Societal Development
Appendix Q Bibliography
Additional Links
Cultural Studies
Cultural studies is an inquiry into paradox and contradiction. These studies
are not a subject of any discipline in the university. In a university,
every subject generates a partial perspective with contradictions within the
larger pursuit of knowledge. In philosophical terms, perennial contradictions
include subject vs. object, spirit vs. matter, reason vs. feeling, life vs.
death, and universal vs. particular. Cultural studies looks at them as the
paradoxes of everyday life. Thus, cultural studies is a quest for understanding,
not a unified movement with an agenda. Bernard Lonergan S.J., might have described
these studies to be about "insight" and the "restricted act of understanding."
Related Books
A Future for Higher Education in America
This book manuscript is made available on-line to BC faculty for comments
and criticism. It examines problems many scholars see facing universities
today and offers solutions. I would appreciate your thoughts before its publication.
I will respond to your emails and acknowledge any suggestions you make to
improve the manuscript. The book is designed to advance the purpose of liberal
arts universities and the mission of church affiliated colleges.
Table of Contents
Preface: What's the Problem?
Chapter 1. A Short History of
Higher Education
Part One: The Doctrinal Problem
Chapter 2. Alpha Omega University:
Secularism and Departmentalism
Part Two: The Social Problem
Chapter 3. Black Hills College:
Localism and Globalism
Chapter 4. National University:
Nationalism and Capitalism
Part Three: The Metaphysical Problem
Chapter 5. Aristotle University:
Intellectualism and Scientism
Chapter 6. Temple University:
Rationalism and Spiritualism
Chapter 7. Conclusion
Assorted Links
Art and Aesthetics
Evolution: Seminar-Dialogues
Evolution is a work in progress. It is the story about a Dean in a Liberal Arts College who holds a seminar for students who want to study the subject of evolution. The Dean invites professors from each department to lecture on how they see their field linked to this long history that started with the Big Bang and moved into the formation of particles, atoms, molecules, stars and planets and the Earth with the evolution of cells, plants, animals, hominids, Homo sapiens and the rise of civilization. The Dean assigns students two essays to prepare for this class. They are called:
Natural History
Human History
Now the Dean holds his seminar and sets forth his own perspective on evolution in the first two classes. In succeeding sessions he invites professors to speak about their perspective. The students and professors have a dialogue.
Other Items
Social Economy
Social economy is a field of study about how people produce, distribute, exchange, and use material resources to meet human needs, and in this process, generate a culture. From a sociological perspective, an economy is organized by symbolic interaction in the context of scarce resources. This field of inquiry is about how people deal with scarcity, establish institutions, and fulfill human values. Other perspectives on this subject include political economy, civil economy, and cultural economy.
Political economy is a study about the way power and authority develop in society. Theory and research focus on the relationship between markets and states, but the subject is equally historical, and local-to-global. The subject of power in the economy extends beyond institutional life.
Civil economy is about the way people make a living, create social institutions, and find a common good in a political setting. It is about how people create a public commons in a private market, how people govern themselves in systems of exchange, and how people generate social standards in normative markets. It is about how people invent things to overcome scarcity, how people create hierarchies of oppression, and systems of justice and liberation in market systems. Theory includes postulating the relationship between opposing principles of an economy constructed in society. Opposing principles include individual versus community, public versus private, and unity vs plurality. Research focuses on the interface of exchange among business, government, and Third sectors.
Cultural economy is about how a symbolic life is generated in midst of scarcity and about the tension of differences among people in everyday life. Culture is linked with the economy through symbolic interaction and broadly, through human history, leading a student back to ancient civilization. This broad inquiry begins with primitive symbols and rituals and moves forward through history to include today's market system. Students examine and critique the theory of Pierre Bourdieu regarding "accumulated prestige, celebrity, consecration" and the dialectic of knowledge and recognition.
Related Books
A Civil Economy: Transforming the Marketplace
Available through University of Michigan Press, 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209, USA. Phone: 734-764-4388; Fax: 734-615-1540.
Available through Amazon.com.
A Civil Republic: Beyond Capitalism and Nationalism
Available through Kumarian Press, 1294 Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield, CT 06002, USA. Order by toll free phone 800-289-2664, fax to 860-243-2867 or internet at www.kpbooks.com.
Available in Europe through Eurospan, 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8LU, UK. Tel +44 (0)20 7240 0856; Fax +44 (0)20 7379 0609; E-mail orders@edspubs.co.uk or internet at www.eurospan.co.uk.
Available through Amazon.com.
Publisher Summary
In A Civil Republic, Severyn Bruyn argues that the United States, and the world at large, is on the verge of a radical shift--dangerous but also full of opportunity. In a world of injustice, ecological destruction, violence and instability, weapons of mass destruction, and the rise of authoritarian government, our ability to craft a secure future lies in creating a "civil republic."
Bruyn envisions a system of governance that merges the core values of civil society into a political economy that has reigned supreme since the end of the Cold War. He sees a world in which religious institutions, health-care systems, businesses, media, and governments could support values of honesty, justice, and public health rather than stand subservient to corporate interests and those of markets and nation-states. He explores ways to implement a new model--one of public policy that builds a civil society beyond the conventions of capitalism and nationalism.
This provocative book is accessible to undergraduates. At the same time, it is a work of profound scholarship and wisdom. Philosophers, scholars and practitioners of international relations, economics, political science, business, international development, and international law will be treated to an informed and encouraging vision for a sustainable future.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1. The Problem: Capitalist Nations
Chapter 1. Capitalism and Globalization: What’s the Problem?
Chapter 2. Civil Society: What’s This Central Idea?
Chapter 3. The Decline of Civil Society: Where Are We Going?
Part 2. The Solution: Civil Markets
Chapter 4. Two Models: Could a New Market Develop?
Chapter 5. A Theory of Development: How Is the New Model Applied?
Part 3. The Plan: Civil Development
Chapter 6. The Process of Development: What Are the Guidelines?
Chapter 7. The Mass Media: Who Owns It?
Chapter 8. The Market Struggle: Who Are the Agents of Change?
Part 4. Conclusion: The Global Picture
Chapter 9. A Global Political Order: How Does a Civil Polity Develop?
Chapter 10. A Civil Republic: How Do We Get There?
Glossary and Appendices
Glossary
Introduction to Appendices
Appendix A The Philosophy of Civil Society
Appendix B Popular Theories of Civil Society
Appendix C The General Economy
Appendix D Mapping Markets
Appendix E Civil Corporations and Associations
Appendix F Civil Development: The Cultural Component
Appendix G Civil Rationale for Markets
Appendix H A Public Philosophy
Appendix I Public Media Alternatives
Appendix J A Republic of Federations: The Frontier
Appendix K Government policies for federations
Appendix L Global Theaters of Action: Civil Regimes.
Appendix M The Co-Development of World Organizations
Appendix N Social Studies of the Economy: New Directions
Appendix O Cultural Studies of the Economy: New Directions
Appendix P Societal Development
Appendix Q Bibliography
Additional Links