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The Pragmatic Sources of Modern Power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2010

Martijn Konings
Martijn Konings*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney [martijn.konings@sydney.edu.au].
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Abstract

Much work in present-day political economy still adheres to an economistic understanding of how markets operate - evident above all in the tendency to concentrate on the disciplinary and constraining effects of globalization. Using American power in financial affairs as an example, this essay proposes a shift of focus towards the constitution of actor capacities, which will permit more accurate conceptualizations of highly leveraged forms of agency. To this end, it turns to the philosophical foundations of the American pragmatist tradition, exploring the way in which it can inform a deeper understanding of the enabling qualities of institutions, the processes through which actor capacities emerge and the operation of power.

Résumé

Présentement, l’économie politique a clairement pour objectif premier de se démarquer du déterminisme économique. Cependant la focalisation sur les contraintes de la globalisation, par exemple – que l’on songe au pouvoir infrastructurel au sens de Michael Mann de la finance américaine – empêche de construire une représentation des formes hautement sophistiquées dudit pouvoir financier.

Tourner le regard vers la constitution d’un lieu de pouvoir et, à cette fin, explorer les voies que propose la philosophie pragmatiste américaine pour mieux comprendre les caractéristiques institutionnelles et les processus qui rendent possible l’émergence d’un lieu de pouvoir, tel est l’objectif de l’article.

Zusammenfassung

Zur Zeit hat die Wirtschaftspolitik eindeutig als erstes Ziel sich vom Wirtschaftsdeterminismus abzusetzen. Da jedoch hauptsächlich die Zwänge der Globalisierung im Vordergrund stehen – so die infrastrukturelle Macht, im Sinne von Michael Mann, der amerikanischen Finanzwelt – bleibt eine Darstellung der komplizierten Formen dieser Finanzmacht aus. Dieser Aufsatz will seinen Blick auf die Schaffung eines Machtzentrums richten und, zu diesem Zweck, die Wege erkunden, die die pragmatische amerikanische Philosophie vorschlägt, um die institutionnellen Charakteristika und die Abläufe zu verstehen, die ein solches Machtzentrum möglich machen.

Keywords

Pragmatismpolitical economyagencypowerstatePragmatismeÉconomie politiqueAgencyPouvoirÉtatPragmatismusWirtschaftspolitikAgenturMachtStaat
Type
Research Articles
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , April 2010 , pp. 55 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © A.E.S. 2010

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