ABSTRACT
The approach and orthodoxy of neoclassical economics dominate today’s analyses and interpretations of economic behavior. Policymakers and most legislators turn reflexively to neoclassical economists for advice and policy prescriptions, sometimes at their own peril. The focus of neoclassical economics, which steadfastly holds to a simplified, narrow analysis of individual decision-making based on utility maximization, negates the synergism between the individual and society; a synergism that, when illuminated, can provide a deeper explanation for individual economic behavior and the dynamics of an economy. Economic sociologists and their forerunners have made the latter assertion over the better part of two centuries. Economic sociology has convincingly argued that a fuller and more complete understanding of economic behavior and markets must recognize society’s role in economic life. Society is not a mere abstraction, purported by neoclassical economists, as the (mathematized) sum of individuals’ rational choices. Whether neoclassical economists will recognize and integrate the contributions economic sociologists have made and will continue to make remains an open question.
