ABSTRACT

This chapter introduces the Marxist/Institutionalist framework and reviews its contribution to the analysis of capitalism. It applies the Marxist/Institutionalist framework to the analysis of Arni, a market town in South India which has been widely researched over four decades. The literature on the Marxist/Institutionalist dialogue shows that, while the approaches broadly converge in their analysis of capitalism, two major areas of divergence exist: class analysis and agency theory. A Marxist/Institutionalist 'synthesis' is theoretically feasible and enhances the interpretive power of the 'heterodox' framework. The aim of the Marxist/Institutionalist framework is to provide the conceptual tools to interpret and explain the processes leading to growth and change in contemporary 'real world' economies. The chapter argues that the Marxist/Institutionalist framework is suitable for the analysis of capitalism in India. The survey of Arni's civil society provides evidence of the influence of caste on social production relations.