Economics Sociology

Objectives

This course aims to provide basic analytical knowledge about the market and its agents from the perspective of sociology. It aims to empower students to a deeper theoretical understanding of the economy and its social production. However, the current course is intended primarily to make students aware and sensitive to the fields of Sociology and S. Service and to the economic dimension of social organization, as well as to provide the knowledge necessary to understand the implications of market and economic changes in relation to the life of human communities. In this sense, the discipline develops comparative theoretical perspectives that reflect the social role of the economy and economic behaviour, from Weber (economic rationality) and Marcel Mauss (relations of exchange) to Schumpeter, who, among others, celebrated the concept of entrepreneurship. In this context, the course presents fundamental concepts that compliment training in sociology and are central to the social sciences.

Program

1. Theories and Conceptualizations of Economic Sociology

1.1. The definition of the field and range of Economic Sociology

1.2. The economic dimension of social life and the organization of societies

1.3. Circulation and exchange; mercantilism as a social process

1.4. The social structures of the economy and of inequality

1.5. Marcel Mauss’ contribution the economic sociology of Karl Marx e Weber

2. Trajectories and paradigms of Economic Sociology

2.1. The new Economic Sociology: Joseph Schumpeter and Granovetter

2.2. The development and phases of the capitalist system

2.3. The issue of recourses, economic goods and their repartition

2.4. The economic circuit and economic agents in classic economic theory

3. The scope and place of agents, power and production

3.1. The notion and role of the market and commercialization

3.2. Production cycles, the cycle of products and consumer society

3.3. Economic solidarity and the forms of social market employment

Teaching Methodologies

Given the objectives delineated, the course is based on an approach based on the specialized classic and modern theories of the phenomenon of everyday life experience. It presents analysis and interpretation of everyday life experiences through the presentation of case studies, the interpretation of situations with specialized witnesses and the analysis of life trajectories. This combination of evaluation methods represents the logical corollary of the teaching methods implemented. Classes follow an interactive model, and questions and examples accompany the presentations.

Bibliography

ALMEIDA, Ana Nunes, João Ferrão, e José M. Sobral (1994), “Territórios, empresários e empresas: entender as condições sociais da empresarialidade”, Análise Social, 29 (125-126), 55-79

ALMODÔVAR, António (1995), A Institucionalização da Economia Política em Portugal, Porto, Afrontamento.

BOURDIEU, Pierre, As estruturas sociais da economia, Lisboa, I. Piaget, 2001

CABRAL, Manuel V. (1983), “A economia subterrânea vem ao de cima: estratégias da população rural perante a industrialização e a urbanização”, Análise Social, 19 (76), 199-234

PEIXOTO, João e MARQUES, Rafael. A sociologia económica em Portugal. Sociologia - problemas e práticas, Maio 2003, nº 42, 201-216

SILVA, Manuela (org.), et al (1989), Empresários e Gestores da Indústria em Portugal, 2 vol., Lisboa, CISEP / UTL, Inst. Sup. Economia

STEINER, Philippe (1999), La Sociologie Économique, Paris, La Découverte

TRIGILIA, Carlo (1998), Sociologia Economica: Stato, Mercato e Società nel Capitalismo Moderno, Bolonha, Il Mulino