The Relationship Between Social Interests and Sciences: A Study of Economic and Sociological Approaches

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[...] What is more: Adam Smith reveals in his work The Wealth of Nations (In 1776), a vision of the economy as a simple aspect of society, completely subject to the laws of the political sphere. It is indeed impossible to conceive that economic interests dictate the rules to society, « The Wealth of Nations is but a function of its political life. In the sense that personal interest in itself drives us, without any other motivation, to achieve the common good, Adam Smith deduces that this "invisible hand" that regulates the economy is not subject to its own laws. [...]

[...] The question arises today as to whether, in our current system, the social interests we have inherited from the 1980s are completely subordinated to a new socio-economic system dominated by financial markets. Conclusion Historically, the birth of currents advocating a more 'economic' approach, in fact, opposed them to more 'social' approaches that had dominated until the 19th century.th s. Thus, until the 1980s, we inherited two visions that seemed to lead to divergent social interests: on the one hand, the desire to let economic mechanisms operate, acknowledging that this sphere had taken precedence and could be a source of the most optimal balance, and on the other hand, the urgency of wanting to intervene in certain situations that could not be resolved if one simply let the purely market logic prevail. [...]

[...] He argues therefore in the sense of an intervention and legislative orientation, to ensure that the social interests of the various stakeholders take on a 'human' and more 'social' character. 3. The relationships between social interests and sciences, and the highlighting of the role of each stakeholder The sciences we are talking about, by their approach of analyzing the social or economic sphere in which we evolve, have as a secondary goal to shed light on the nature and function of exchanges between stakeholders, as well as their role within the studied system. [...]

[...] However, for Polanyi, it is meaningless to seek to describe economic relations between individuals without first understanding the social context in which they operate. It is therefore a definition of the economy subordinated to a specific social context that emerges in Polanyi's work: « The economy is the institutionalized process of interaction between man and his environment, this interaction providing him continuously with the material means to satisfy his needsThe Great Transformation Karl Polanyi (1944). This is why he presents a classification of economic relations according to the three types of social frameworks in which they take place: reciprocity, redistribution, and exchange economy. [...]

[...] If the interest in such a science is so strong today, it is because historically the approaches of various economic and sociological currents have opposed each other to explain market dynamics and the relationships between individuals within the same society. Since the end of the 18ème century, sociologists have produced analyses of society that are put to the test by the changes that began with the industrial revolution in England. In France, these significant changes have led intellectuals to ask fundamental questions about the relevance of a sociological or economic approach to explaining the changing relationships between individuals and the incentives that drive them to change their behavior. [...]