The Great Transformation

Although this book was published in 1944, the same year as Hayek's THE ROAD TO SERFDOM, it remains as relevant as ever. Some say that it is dated and it is true that many of the historical references are not the ones that would spring to mind today, but the critique of the myth of the self-regulating free market remains as relevant and to-the-point as ever. One of the main targets of his book was the Vienna school of economics,... Read Full Review

Polanyi's The Great Transformation is truly a masterpiece of historical analysis and social theory. Polanyi deftly uses his extensive knowledge of economic history, anthropology, and political theory to demonstrate the failure of "market society" and the myopia of those who believe that the "free" market is the answer to all social ills. He's at his best when he combines his historical analysis of 18th and 19th century capitalism... Read Full Review

Polanyi challenges the Neoclassical (specifically Hayekian) assertion that humans started out as individuals , and only later grew into societies. Siding with Durkheim and other holists, Polanyi argues that the concept of a freely contracting economic individual is actually a very recent, and very sociohistorically localized, assertion. Put simply, "free markets" are something consciously made and supported by societies,... Read Full Review

This is undoubtedly Polanyi's finest work, and an example of the highest quality of scholarship available. This analysis of the rise and influence of "the socially embedded market" is simultaneously lucid and profound; clear and complex; detailed and sweeping. It provides one with a wonderful model for an interdiscipinary approach to the investigation of social phenomena - it is employs political, economic and sociological... Read Full Review

Athough first published in 1944, this book still has much relevance.Polanyi discusses the development of markets and their impact on society.He shows that throughout most of history economic activity has been subordinate to control by society.Markets only gained importance at the end of the feudal era in Western Europe.They were promoted by centrally organized intervention, they were not a "natural" development, he says.Polanyi... Read Full Review