ABSTRACT
The state is often spoken of uncritically in histories and in economic analyses. The most common perception is of the inevitability of its existence and unilateral acceptance of its legitimacy on some basis or other. For Karl Polanyi, the economy is embedded in society: 'The outstanding discovery of historical and anthropological research is that man's economy, as a rule, is submerged in his social relationships. Several 'schools' of heterodox economic thought can be identified and there are numerous academic journals and conferences throughout the world which provide a forum for dissent. The hegemony of the neoclassical paradigm is however under increasing pressure from heterodox economists and from some economists within the mainstream of the paradigm who have perceived a need to profoundly reconsider its tenets. It is through the cleavages within the neoclassical paradigm, identified most profoundly through the insights of critical realism, that anarchist economic thought can find its legitimate place.
