Contemporary Capitalism between Human Action and Social Structure

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The agency/structure relationship is not sufficiently explained by economic theory. On the one hand, neoclassical economics does not solve the problem because it leads to the actions of the agents, within an unrealistic representation of individual behaviour and of the capitalist system's functioning. On the other hand, the theoretical approaches that have most contributed to the analysis of capitalism such as Marxism and evolutionist Institutionalism, do not provide a complete explanation. The theoretical inadequacy is reflected in the empirical analysis: if the Marxist analysis has difficulty in interpreting the unforeseen development of capitalism in the twentieth century, the evolutionist-Institutionalist analysis fails to anticipate the centrality of conflicts between capital and labour and of the commodification of labour force in the development process. This work shows that the combination of the Marxist analysis of capitalism and of the individual action theory borrowed by evolutionist Institutionalism can provide a valid theoretical answer to the agency/structure problem and a strong support to the empirical analysis.JEL Classification: B13; B14; B15; P12Keywords: agency; structure; marxism; evolutionist-institutionalist; capitalism.1. The relationship between agency and structureThe relationship between individual action and social structure is a theoretical- methodological topic with important empirical implications. It is tied to many questions, ranging from the definition of the individual action (agency) and of the social structure (structure) to the forms of interaction between them, and finally to the superiority of one over the other in the interaction process.The relationship between agency and structure is very controversial in social science. An important part of the debate concerns the fundamental and distinctive characteristics of individual action: Is intentional and conscious action a specific prerogative of the human being? Is human behaviour always intentional and conscious or are there cases of unconscious and repetitive actions? Are individuals independent making their own choices freely, or is individual behavior conditional? How are the desires and objectives of agents formed?Of equal importance are the questions about the nature of the social structure: what is the essence of society? Is society simply the sum of several individuals, each with their own characteristics, or is it something more? If one accepts the hypothesis that the coexistence of individuals produces social relations, what is their nature? Is it possible to think that social relations are reproduced in time and space, acquiring more and more importance until they become social structures, i.e. the rules that govern and influence the interactions between agents? Is it possible to think that the analysis of society must include the study of individuals together with the study of social structures?Thus, the concepts of agency and structure are presented as opposites. The first refers to the individual and relates to the motivations behind the action, the will and the choice, the freedom and the intentionality. The second refers to the society and the environment in which individuals put their own choices into operation and act them out. The debate on the relationship between agency and structure raises other questions: how does social structure influence individual action? And, conversely, how does individual action create and transform social structure? What is the causal mechanism that links the two entities? Which one is dominant?In recent debate, the problem of the relationship between agency and structure has been addressed by two very different answers: methodological individualism and methodological collectivism. In reference to methodological individualism, the common assumption is that deliberate and conscious action is an exclusive feature of the human being and that social processes can be interpreted as an expression of the individual, of his characteristics, of his objectives and desires. …