ABSTRACT
A well-established tradition of studies has clarified that the rise and evolution of national economic societies in the nineteenth century1 is not an issue that can be dismissed as simply a form of historical erudition. Rather, it involves crucial aspects of the history of modern economics: the academic institutionalisation of political economy,2 the professionalisation of economists, the origins of specialist economic journals,3 the international circulation of ideas and the relations between economists, politics and public opinion. It is not necessary to make a leap of faith and proclaim belief in Kuhnian and Rortyan epistemology in order to underline that knowledge of these institutional developments, which shaped the dialogic relations between economists and their scientific community, is often of vital importance for an understanding of the evolution of economics and the success or failure of rival paradigms within this field.
