Polanyi in an Hourglass : The Two Lives of a Sociological Classic

Abstract

Purpose This article aims to show that studies of transnational risk regulation can benefit from Polanyian and neo-Polanyian research agendas in the field of law, economy, and society. Risk regulation would then be understood as a corrective force within the market society. Methodology/approach Drawing on the relevant literature in the field, Karl Polanyi’s work is contextualized both in the past (“scholarship before and beside Polanyi”) and in the present (“scholarship after and beyond Polanyi”). The review considers developments within sociology, its neighbouring disciplines economics and jurisprudence, and the interdisciplinary research fields of “economy and society”, “law and society”, and “law and economy”. Findings The article demonstrates that Polanyi is a “late classic” who shares the holistic orientation of classical historical scholarship. At the same time, it is argued that his “early revival” is due to the topicality of his criticism of the market society, and its inherent risks, in an era of neo-liberalism and globalization. Originality/value of paper By going back and forth in time, the article situates Polanyi in a line of holistically minded scholarship that combines insights of general, economic, and legal sociology in what can be called the “economic sociology of law”. This is “old” and “new”, at the same time.