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On Transformation
And why we should read Karl Polanyi
While searching for inspiration for one of my previous blogs, I found a name that was already quite familiar because I studied one of his books some time ago.
The name was Karly Polanyi, an economic historian and economic and social scientist. That book’s title is “The Great Transformation”.
Karl Paul Polanyi was born in Vienna (Austria-Hungary) in 1886 and died in Pickering (Ontario) in 1964. His theoretical position diverged from the then-traditional economic doctrine: It emphasized the social and institutional integration of market processes.
His book “The Great Transformation” was written in 194 and was quite unknown at the very beginning, but today it is a classic work of economic and social history and is used for political arguing.
It is subtitled “The Political and Economics Origins of Our Time”.
When you read the book, you have the feeling that “Our Time” from 1944 could just as well be today. The book is more relevant than ever!
Let me explain please:
Polanyi describes the profound transformation of the Western social order in the 19th and 20th centuries. He predominantly uses the historical example of England, when industrialization and political action (or rather…
