Some Recent Interpretations of Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of Institutional Change

Abstract

After three generations of scholarship on Thorstein Veblen, it might be expected that a consensus would emerge on the nature and significance of major aspects of his thought. Outside the ranks of the neoinstitutionalist movement this has not occurred, and within the movement itself a variety of opinion exists, although it has solidified in certain ways. The reasons for this divergence of interpretation include the meaning of his texts and the relationship they bear to each other, political and moral disagreement over the validity of his claims, and diversity of attitudes regarding his present relevance. To these must be added the failure of Veblen scholars to research relevant archival material, although this last claim is a more tenuous one.' Perhaps, a brief review of the recent scholarship on Veblen's theory of institutional change will clarify trends in contemporary thinking on the subject.2 At the very least, it will reveal a stronger emphasis on the explicitly normative aspects of the theory and its implications for policy. Typically, Veblen has been characterized as both a conflict and cultural lag theorist who stressed the pressure exerted by technology on institutions and culture as well as the resistance offered by both. It is interesting to note that recent interpretations emphasize the dialectical interplay between the means of production, relations of production,