The Dialectic of Culture and Economy

Many social sciences, particularly sociology, human geography and urban studies, have undergone a ‘cultural turn’ in recent years, evident both in method and content, with the emergence of a long-overdue dialogue with literary studies, and an increased concern with cultural phenomena. The flip-side of this has been a decline in interest in political economy following its peak during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Urban studies exemplifies the shift; even though economic work continues, it is more about institutional forms than about basic aspects of capitalism. This raises some questions: Where does all that old-time political economy of urbanism stand now? Is the city now any less dependent on the production and circulation of capital than hitherto? Has culture come to dominate economy? ¹ What discussions there have been so far concerning culture and economy tend only to have been implicit in arguments about more concrete topics, such as the debates over the interpretation of gentrification in urban studies and over Japanese work practices in industrial sociology. Though interesting, these fail to bring out more general issues of culture and economy.