Book Review: The Power of Market Fundamentalism: Karl Polanyi's Critique

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Block Fred L. , and Somers Margaret R. , The Power of Market Fundamentalism: Karl Polanyi's Critique (Cambridge , Harvard University Press , 2014)

Book Reviews

The recent boom in scholarship concerned with Polanyi's ideas creates the impression of a major thinker whose ideas have been examined in their minute details. That is far from the reality. In fact, there are still no more than a handful of monographs on Polanyi's life and ideas.¹Furthermore, until the early 1980s, Polanyi's influence in the social sciences was limited to his studies in comparative economic history, economic anthropology, and the classics. Fittingly for the eventful life and unorthodox career of a true original such as Karl Polanyi, the widespread influence of his magnum opus, The Great Transformation, did not materialize until the 2000s. These two factors, the paucity of authoritative analyses on Polanyi and the belated scholarly attention to The Great Transformation, have impeded Polanyi's influence in mainstream sociology. As such, while Polanyi is a common reference point in the study of markets, few sociological studies explore the rich potential of Polanyi's thought. The Power of Market Fundamentalism is an attempt to fill this gap. This book combines several previously published essays--all of them substantially revised--with three original chapters. By packaging these essays into an original synthesis, Block and Somers investigate the seductive appeal of free-market doctrines and the dynamics of the Polanyian double movement since the end of World War II. The result is a timely and welcome contribution to Polanyi scholarship for at least two reasons. First, Block and Somers provide an insightful analysis and incisive critique of the tyranny of market fundamentalism. Second, the authors offer the outline of a Polanyi-inspired sociology on the market society and its contradictions.

In contrast to its current status as a landmark in the social sciences, The Great Transformation (TGT hereafter) had a limited impact after its publication. In fact, Polanyi's main influence in the decades following TGT emerged from his work on pre-modern economies, which generated significant scholarly debate in economic anthropology, economic history, and classical studies.²However, despite the intensity of these debates, the influence of Polanyian scholarship was not commensurate with the scope and theoretical...