Polanyi's Concept Research Articles

On Authority and Political Destination: Michael Polanyi and the Threshold of Postmodernism

What are the implications for political life of Polanyi's conception of knowing and being? How do Polanyi's philosophic foundations situate him in relation to the political dimensions of postmodernism? In examining these questions, let us take as the representative of political postmodernism the neo-pragmatism of Richard Rorty. Assisted by Oakeshott's portrayal of political life as like a ship at sea, we will discover that while there are important parallels between the political perspectives of Rorty and Polanyi, at a critical juncture their paths diverge; as a result, they offer deeply incompatible visions of the nature and proper aim not only of political activity but of human life generally.

The Institution, the Economy and the Market: Karl Polanyi's Institutional Thought for Economists

This paper aims to clarify the logical structure of Karl Polanyi's concept of institution, especially with regard to his most important contribution to political economy—the conception of self-regulating markets as institutions. Although Polanyi did not provide a well-developed concept of institution, this article argues that such a concept exists in his work. Moreover, there is in Polanyi's work a sophisticated institutionalist account of the self-regulating market that has been largely overlooked as Polanyi does not present it explicitly. Analyzing the economy as an institutionalized process, as Polanyi does, reveals that the market is neither a natural nor a spontaneous phenomenon—a conclusion that runs counter to conventional economic thinking. Polanyi's approach enables us to view capitalism (the ‘market society’ in Polanyi's language) through a highly specific cultural fact: the fiction of the self-regulating market. This institutional perspective needs to be reassessed beyond new-institutionalist theoretical constructions.

Turning Financial Markets inside Out: Polanyi, Performativity and Disembeddedness

In light of the spread of markets across the globe and deeper into daily life, this paper argues for a more robust analysis and application of Karl Polanyi's conception of (dis)embedded markets coupled with the performativity thesis authored mainly by Michel Callon. It suggests that while disembeddedness as a concept is necessary for an analysis of contemporary financial markets that are increasingly self-referential, it is not sufficient. Despite the suggestion of a gulf between Polanyian and Callonian economics, there are important similarities in the two frameworks. The similarities are considered along with the considerable difference, all in an attempt to develop a more robust methodological framework for analyzing financial markets. Performativity, it is argued, can help fill the gaps in Polanyi's embeddedness framework, albeit only when that concept's tendency to produce aspatial and apolitical arguments are taken seriously. The paper uses an abbreviated case study of the development of US financial derivative markets in the 1970s and 1980s to argue that markets must be considered in light of both their institutional and geographic entanglements as well as their (dis)embeddedness in systems of calculativeness and mathematical modeling. Specifically the paper analyzes the tension between the derivative origin story authored by Donald MacKenzie, which focuses on neoclassical pricing models like the Black—Scholes—Merton option pricing formula, and my own empirical research, which suggests the urban-economic geography of Chicago played a key role in the development of these instruments.

A More Perfect Commodity: Bottled Water, Global Accumulation, and Local Contestation

AbstractBottled water sits at the intersection of debates regarding the social and environmental effects of the commodification of nature and the ways neoliberal globalization alters the provision of public services. Utilizing Polanyi's concept of fictitious commodities and Harvey's work on accumulation by dispossession, this article traces bottled water's transformation from elite niche item to a product consumed by three fourths of U.S. households. Drawing on ethnographic research with participants in two cases of proposed spring water extraction from rural communities by industry leader Nestlé Waters, we make two principal arguments. First, the case of bottled water necessitates a reevaluation of existing theoretical frameworks regarding water privatization and commodification. Municipal tap water networks pose substantial barriers to capital accumulation, leading one influential scholar to frame water as an “uncooperative commodity.” However, bottled water's characteristics enable it to evade many of these constraints, rendering it a “more perfect commodity” for accumulation. Second, expansion of the market good of bottled water alters the prospects for the largely publicly provided good of tap water. We conclude that the growth of this relatively new commodity represents a more serious threat to the project of universal public drinking water provision than that posed by tap water privatization.

Ignorance, denial, internalisation, and transcendence: a post-structural perspective on Polanyi's double movement

AbstractIn this article, I suggest what an engagement between post-structuralism and the work of Karl Polanyi might look like. I do this by presenting a reading of Polanyi's concept of ‘double movement’ as a form of problematisation through binary opposition. I suggest that the central opposition that the double movement depicts – between economy and society as reflected in processes of marketisation and social protection – presents itself in such a way that the problems emanating from the opposition can only be solved through its transcendence. On one hand, the terms of transcendence are limited by the terms of the opposition. On the other hand, since transcendence is never reached, the double movement problematisation stabilises the existence of a lacuna between the lived experience of market society and the discursive field of that market society. As such, the form of the problematisation places a double-limit upon the ways in which ‘solutions’ can be presented. I present this thesis in relation to two instances of double movement discussed by Polanyi in his book,The Great Transformation. I then apply the argument to invocations of the economy-society opposition in contemporary political economic discourse, where it remains as ubiquitous as ever.

Exploring ‘what’ to learn in physical education

Purpose: The aim of this article is to show a need for explicating ‘what’ there is to learn in physical education (PE) with a particular focus on learning to move with the meaning potential seen as integral to moving. Further, the aim is to provide an example of exploring ‘bodily knowing’ from the perspective of practical epistemology as outlined by researchers such as Michael Polanyi, Allan Janik and Gilbert Ryle.Background: Learning has been a prominent issue within the PE research for quite some time. Overviews of research show that the object of learning, the ‘what-aspect’ within the didactic triangle, has been taken into account, though the obvious focus is the ‘how-aspect’, as in how learning occurs. In PE, the ‘what-aspect’, according to teachers as well as pupils, is vague, and the aim of the subject is expressed in terms of ‘fun-aspects’ rather than ‘what-aspects’. Taking a standpoint from research concerning aims, content and important knowledge in PE in Sweden, with reference to international research, this article will shed light upon physical activity as a taken-for-granted content, conceptualized either as an instrument for fulfilling the demands of the contemporary health-discourse or an instrument for performing well in sports. In doing this, the article will argue for the urgent need of explicating what capabilities students are supposed to develop in PE.Key concepts: The concept of knowledge in relation to PE will be discussed. Drawing on Janik's discussion of the epistemological structure of practical professional knowledge, emphasizing the importance of making the base of knowledge explicit, capability to move will be regarded as an object of learning, a possible ‘what-aspect’, in PE. To overcome the boundaries between practical and theoretical knowledge, Polanyi's concept knowing will be used. Conceiving knowings as embracing several aspects of knowledge as well as comprising both mental and physical processes, knowings in human movement will be elaborated.Conclusion: As our initial overview of research about ways of reasoning about knowledge and learning in PE suggested, there is an imminent need to systematically develop a language for learning in PE where what to learn, the specific knowings that PE is nurturing, is paramount, and where this ‘what’ is not reduced to superficial knowledge about health issues or physical skills. We believe that exploring the ‘knowing how’ aspect of learning will highlight potential ‘knowings’ in human movement. Following the concept ‘knowing’ as in line with Ryle's ‘knowing how’, not separating mental and physical skills, can serve as an analytical tool and a starting point for articulating examples of ‘knowings’ as objects of learning and thus providing opportunities to conceptualize human movement in terms of knowing and learning.

Rosa Luxemburg's Accumulation of Capital: A Centennial Update with Additions from Long Wave Theory and Karl Polanyi's Great Transformation

The period of economic and political crises that began with the Wall Street crash in 2007 in many ways resembles the conditions of global capitalism at the time Rosa Luxemburg published her Accumulation of Capital. This article argues that Luxemburg's political economy entails the theoretical tools necessary to understand capitalist development since the early 20th century and that capitalism indeed faces as great a crisis as it did at that time. Amended by ideas from long wave theory and Polanyi's concept of a great transformation, the article analyzes the subsequent Keynesian and neoliberal waves of accumulation and the crises that led from on to the other. It concludes that no further capitalist expansion is readily possible at this time.

The missing movement: a Polanyian analysis of pre‐crisis America

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to seek to apply Polanyi's theory of the double movement as a response to the effects of economic liberalization and globalization to the pre‐2007 American economy. In so doing, it seeks to ascertain the reasons why this assumed double movement did not materialize until after the post‐2007 global economic crisis.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is structured as a theoretical and historical analysis, building upon Polanyi's nineteenth century observations and applying them to contemporary policy economic and social experience in the USA in the late twentieth century. The argument proposes a correlation between the missing and/or delayed movement and the role of access to debt and participation in equity markets.FindingsThis paper argues that Polanyi's concept of a societal countermovement has been absent from the post‐1970 period of economic liberalism and globalization until just recently due to an explicit attempt by the forces of capital to circumvent its role in lessening the harmful effects of American capitalism. In particular, the double movement that should have sought to lessen income inequality, unemployment and wage stagnation was instead replaced by access to cheap credit and the democratization of market investments that spurred consumer purchases and a false belief that what was good for the markets was good for working class Americans.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper highlights the need for ongoing research into the sociotropic nature of trade and of economic policy, and its evolution throughout the contemporary period of economic uncertainty and economic transition.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes several policy implications arising from the contemporary application of Polanyi's double movement, notably related to international trade and public and political support for ongoing trade liberalization.Social implicationsThis paper highlights important connections in the relationship between economic policy and the day‐to‐day lives of those who are governed by it. Building on “everyday political economy”, it provides a foundation for arguments that a new balance must be found between economic globalization and transnational capital interests and domestic stability.Originality/valueThis paper promotes a novel approach to understanding the political economy of pre‐2007 America, in particular the reflexive nature of economic policy and societal perceptions.

Mystery of the unknown: revisiting tacit knowledge in the organizational literature

PurposeThis study aims to discuss how organizational researchers use the concept of tacit knowledge. The concept has become a “buzzword” in the last decade and has given rise to an extensive literature. The current study views tacit knowledge as a crucial concept that may help link individual understanding and skills and organizational routines and capabilities, a rare topic of discussion in extant literature.Design/methodology/approachThe paper also addresses some of the misunderstandings in the theoretical and empirical organizational literature on tacit knowledge. Organizational researchers usually refer to Michael Polanyi's conception of the term as tacit knowledge, though they mean Gilbert Ryle's concept of “knowing‐how” instead.FindingsAccordingly, the primordial nature of tacit knowing is lost in the transition and what is left is a linear dichotomy of tacit and explicit knowledge.Originality/valueThis misunderstanding creates an obstacle in the way toward establishing the link between individual skills and organizational routines and capabilities. The paper ends with suggestions offered toward bringing the individual and the organization under the same theoretical explanation of human action.

Lineages of Embeddedness: On the Antecedents and Successors of a Polanyian Concept

AbstractSince the 1980s, much debate has revolved around Karl Polanyi's concept of the “dis/embedded economy,” generating some light and not a little heat. This paper looks at three reasons that account for part of the “heat.” It begins by tracing the sources upon which Polanyi drew. They include Karl Marx, Ferdinand Tönnies, and Max Weber, along with anthropology of the inter‐war period, and German and American Institutionalist economics. After exploring the differing ways in which these varying currents conceptualize the relationship between economy and society, I explore the different interpretations of what Polanyi means by embeddedness, and the different purposes to which contemporary economic sociologists have put the term. For some, he is held up as the originator of a line of sociological analysis that treats “the economy” as a subsystem “embedded in” a social system. In this reading the emphasis is upon the moral underpinnings of market behavior, in contrast to the naturalism of Ricardo, Malthus and their heirs. For others, his “disembedding” thesis contains a more radical tale: of the market economy coming to dominate “society,” bringing forth a sorcerer's apprentice world of untrammeled market forces that, although human creations, lie beyond conscious human control.

Social Democracy, Embeddedness and Decommodification: On the Conceptual Innovations and Intellectual Affiliations of Karl Polanyi

Of the several debates that revolve around the work of the economic historian and political economist Karl Polanyi, one that continues to exercise minds concerns his analysis of, and political attitudes toward, post-war capitalism and the welfare state. Simplified a little, it is a debate with two sides. To borrow Iván Szelényi's terms, one side constructs a ‘hard’ Karl Polanyi, the other a ‘soft’ one. The former advocated a socialist mixed economy dominated by redistributive mechanisms. He was a radical socialist for whom the market should never be the dominant mechanism of economic coordination. His ‘soft’ alter ego insisted that the market system remain essentially intact but be complemented by redistributive mechanisms. The ‘double movement’ – the central thesis of his ‘Great Transformation’ – acts, in this reading, as a self-correcting mechanism that moderates the excesses of market fundamentalism; its author was positioned within the social-democratic mainstream for which the only realistic desirable goal is a regulated form of capitalism. In terms of textual evidence there is much to be said for both interpretations. In this article I suggest a different approach, one that focuses upon the meaning of Polanyi's concepts in relation to their socio-political and intellectual environment.

Hayek on tacit knowledge

Abstract:This paper discusses the place of ‘tacit knowledge’ in Hayek's writings. How did Hayek understand tacit knowledge? How did his understanding change through time? I address these questions and follow the change in Hayek's works from skills and techniques of thought in the 1930s to the use of ‘tacit knowledge’ in the1960s. Hayek uses Polanyi's concept in many writings, but remains short of approving its implications. The paper emphasizes that while Hayek was quite aware of the differences between tacit knowing and knowing-how, he was not keen to stress the divergence. In the end, I offer some potential explanations for this preference.

The importance of tacit knowledge in practices of care

The paper argues that a high quality personal relationship between professionals and clients is a necessary condition of professional knowledge. This epistemological claim is developed against the background of current methods of quality assessment that rely on objectively measurable 'indicators'. A philosophical analysis regarding the nature of professional knowledge in the care sector. The analysis proceeds from Michael Polanyi's concept of tacit knowledge to account for the personal dimension of professional expertise in the care sector. Quantitative methods of quality assessment understand 'quality of care' as being independent from the professional who generates it. Consequently, quality assessment as currently practiced necessarily renders the personal dimension of professional knowledge invisible, thereby excluding it from managerial attention and support. To indicate the relevance of Polanyi's concept of tacit knowledge, the paper offers some observations from the practice of care in a group home for people with intellectual disabilities. The paper concludes that a high quality relationship between professionals and their clients is crucial for quality of care. This relationship generates the positive interaction that enables professionals to gain adequate insight in the needs of their clients.

Subaltern strategies and autonomous community building: a critical analysis of the network organization of sustainable agriculture initiatives in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract This paper examines and analyses the organization and functioning of subaltern peasant sanghams (grassroot associations of the poor) and their place-based as well as network-based strategies in building autonomous local communities that challenge the consequences of neoliberal globalization in general and the commodification of agriculture and food in particular. The major objective of the counter-hegemonic organizational strategies is to build self-protective and subsistence communities, to mend the metabolic rift between nature and society, and to re-reconstruct social fabric within communities. The question remains is whether place-based autonomous communities can sustain in an increasingly globalizing world. To better understand these political dynamics, I use Karl Polanyi's concept of ‘double movement’ and examine the making of a double movement in Indian agriculture and its socio-political and ecological implications for the Indian peasantry. I use the organizational strategies and activities of the Deccan Development Society, a prominent non-governmental organization that has been working in Medak district for more than two decades, as an illustrative case study.

Rethinking Michael Polanyi's Realism: From Personal Knowledge to Intersubjectively Viable Communication

Abstract Fifty years after the publication of Michael Polanyi's magnum opus, Personal Knowledge, the fashion for Knowledge Management (KM) has helped to institutionalise a redefinition of his distinction between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. But KM's redefinition of Polanyi's argument misrepresents his insights into the process of personal tacit ‘knowing’ and overlooks the implications of his faith in metaphysical ‘being’. This paper explores the significance of Polanyi's original concept of tacit knowledge, together with the consequences of assuming a ‘vertical’ connection between personal knowledge and faith in an unknowable absolute truth. By using faith to protect personal knowledge from the charge of subjectivism, Polanyi precluded the possibility that different people, who interact in different contexts and believe in different things, could develop viable modes of knowing and learning. However, rethinking Polanyi's philosophy with regard to Ernst von Glasersfeld's radical constructivism, which is derived from intersubjectively viable ‘horizontal’ communication, allows the virtues of tacit knowledge to be separated from the complications of metaphysical realism.

Is an Alternative Globalization Possible?

Building on Polanyi's concept of the “double-movement” through which society defends itself against domination by the self-regulating market, this article sets out some key organizational and ideological hurdles that the contemporary “movement of movements” must surmount to challenge the hegemony of neo-liberal globalization. After outlining neo-liberalism's failures, it makes an argument for the possibility of “counter-hegemonic globalization,” defined as a globally organized project of transformation aimed at replacing the dominant (hegemonic) global regime with one that maximizes democratic political control and makes the equitable development of human capabilities and environmental stewardship its priorities.

Towards a Theory that Links Experience in the Arts with the Acquisition of Knowledge

AbstractThe origin of this article is an investigation of an academic course, Graphic Arts and Design for students of natural and social sciences. The article describes the benefits of attending the class for the science students, which were an increased ability to solve problems, new and different ways to observe the environment, greater self confidence, and a higher understanding and valuing of the working process. The participants considered that the artistic activities affected their academic courses since the exercises were seen as creative and meaningful, which led to a changed attitude towards their studies. The exercises developed a comprehensive view and an ability to concentrate, which were conducive to problem solving. The article compares the process of drawing with the cognitive approach of philosophical pragmatism described by Charles Peirce and John Dewey. Michael Polanyi's concept of tacit knowing and some theories on the function of metaphors are also discussed in relation to some concrete pedagogical examples.

The emancipatory power of the tacit dimension

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to explore a concept of the management of professionals that can withstand critical questioning.Design/methodology/approach – A case study is analysed with use of key concepts from Polanyi.Findings – The instrumental approach to knowledge, so frequently used in knowledge management, neglects important issues. The conventional question: “How should we organize knowledge?” neglects the question: “How should knowledge impact organization?”. With use of Polanyi's concept of knowledge, a richer interdependency between knowledge and organization can be conceived. Findings were drawn from an ethnographic case study in the IT sector to illustrate how professionals can successfully negotiate the content, meaning and development of their tasks and practices. The attempt to create a safe haven, supporting professional and personal development, illustrates how the tacit dimension has emancipatory potential.Originality/value – Contributes to clarifying the richness of Polanyi'...

The Transition between the Old and New Traditional Economies in India

We extend Karl Polanyi's traditional economy concept to modern economies with advanced technology that are embedded in a traditional socio-cultural framework. This is the New Traditional economy, seen in parts of the Islamic world and with the Hindu nationalist movement in India. However, rural India is also the largest repository of the Old Traditional economy with its Hindu caste and jajmani system of reciprocal labour relations. The changes in India's complexly mixed economy, with its increasing market and strong planned elements, constitute a transition from the Old to the New Traditional economy. We shall consider this transition both ideologically and systemically.

Clearing up “implicit knowledge”: Implications for Knowledge Management, information science, psychology, and social epistemology

Abstract“Implicit knowledge” and “tacit knowledge” in Knowledge Management (KM) are important, often synonymous, terms. In KM they often refer to private or personal knowledge that needs to be made public. The original reference of “tacit knowledge” is to the work of the late scientist and philosopher, Michael Polanyi (Polanyi, 1969), but there is substantial evidence that the KM discourse has poorly understood Polanyi's term. Two theoretical problems in Knowledge Management's notion of “implicit knowledge,” which undermine empirical work in this area, are examined. The first problem involves understanding the term “knowledge” according to a folk‐psychology of mental representation to model expression. The second is epistemological and social: understanding Polanyi's term, tacit knowing as a psychological concept instead of as an epistemological problem, in general, and one of social epistemology and of the epistemology of the sciences, in particular. Further, exploring Polanyi's notion of tacit knowing in more detail yields important insights into the role of knowledge in science, including empirical work in information science. This article has two parts: first, there is a discussion of the folk‐psychology model of representation and the need to replace this with a more expressionist model. In the second part, Polanyi's concept of tacit knowledge in relation to the role of analogical thought in expertise is examined. The works of philosophers, particularly Harré and Wittgenstein, are brought to bear on these problems. Conceptual methods play several roles in information science that cannot satisfactorily be performed empirically at all or alone. Among these roles, such methods may examine historical issues, they may critically engage foundational assumptions, and they may deploy new concepts. In this article the last two roles are examined.