The Science of Passionate Interests Latour

8/2/2019 The Science of Passionate Interests Latour

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The Science of Paiona In:A Iduc t aiel Tade'cic ly

Bno Lato d Vincent Antonin Upinay

PRICKLY PARADIM PRSSCICAO


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2009 Brno Latour and Vincen Anonin Lpiny

rgh seed.

Prcky Pardigm ss, LLC5629 South Univeriy AvenueChicg 60637

wpcky-prdigmcom

ISBNlO: 097940777SBN13 978097940778LCC 209936907

Prned in the Unied Ses of Amerca on cid-fe pper


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h tndncy to mthz conomic scinc and

the tndncy topschog t, f m bng iconclabl shoud rathr n or vw lnd ach othrmutua suppo.

h dtrne of lassz-fa thfor has th greatest any w that of soctyasos, ad

blows amd at th formr rbound on th lattrabrl Tard*

Imagie how hngs might hve tured ou had eever pid ei to DKpa A cey laer, thebk wd hve be edscveed nd people woud

have be sk with mzment by i scope daudaity-a isolted little dersd wrk withutay se p r s mp; a wk a geerad either dscips r exegses ad e thtn emp t pplicio hd cme to fm.Hw dere e soy f e 20th e woudhve be had the ile of me f cin bee GrilTade's Pg ique, pulished i 192sead Mas wrk! Bu peps it is e oreve thrugh a little essy i sorical ci

* A fenc t e 92 macrpt o Eque accsible onine va e Pckly adi webste (w.pick-padicm/caog.hl) a vein, all page umr m e igialeron of que a t ap on Gallic BiequeNt d F wete tp://gac)


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theory of polical ecnomy whh Trde plys therole th, i the re couse of histry as occie byMrx.

A rst gace, it seems icu ake serosl the rmblgs of this socioogis who h scles; wh tets covers mg des s "fto f rocon who eies the cel roeribued oo o b wh stgihes, i the

of at the "see o gem (the soware)from the ted the hardware) t the dvgf the fme who fow wth equ teveess,ucU the pce b vs i thepege o pl ge o ntumen he mes"gmee wh ue p exmpe f pu

t o evee ee e a eede brthe e bk pg atten n tthe semn o the bk themeve bu te dsemt the e te the pgew pphes the qun f bpowe e

m a ecg wee e ewe wh mveseme om Dw o M m Am Smth nte-Augt , bu wthu beevg mmet the u v emcsece w eete uxu hn, mpn, qut be eea muh he

teee the mta dt izaowh nu es exmpe ud mket, e emt phspa de, eh, the w, e ued equl epu we who make ee, vatn

nnv, n ee ee e he b em t wh pe nebe meowg w k teegph we p pbt the gwh oum wh be ,


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beieve in he exstece of Capitism, des ot see nte 19t ent the terrg rse cld aluls

and the regn the mmod but the cnawh denes he grh o arkes as ht opsnswho conratuates he socists o ha reated nefe or assia d oranzt.

It s th d recar e ould ke to deronce a reeat? It s hs tte bt ecnmc

areoo tht e ud lke t dst ad plsh?Precise Le s b hest eouh to acknoede hat read D Kpital ould seem qute ubn t s e ha t beeed om er a cetuof commetars o it Ee l ntlly seem

orei n the eooms o Tarde but perhaps oybease t aU ne-that east s ht e hpe tsh Wrten amdst the rst reat era o gobalzao

gappin th ll o the tehnoocal nas ohe mes tke th he moral ad plca probem ass stues prooundy noed bsooo

unded qutae methods ch at he imeculd oy be dremed but h he todybeme aabe thas to the exesio o dzntehqes s bese t seems es mned that eare prsenn ths' or a etury ater the mddo ather perod o bizo t me o moral,scal cal plal ad ecogcal rss s apis ot oeed as a smpe oddity hat mht teresemc storas but nstead as a doet tha sesseal order to at a aternae understad our past d hs o ur tu

We rst osdered reubshi the to aroumes o Psyhogie Eonomique but recred th the exaorda eout o thebo market- eouto sel perey Trda.


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4IGve tht the gial wk acceie mage II

fom he Gac wete (ht://gicff/)d text fom (W o PDF) o e exceeCdn weite es clsiques des siences sociales(htt//cqeuqcc/) i wud n mke muchee to ih t i t eet, t rhve ct.We hve theefe ecde uh iuciee wih eative g qutto, give

ee he eie o tur t he g veio of heFech text exe t rher I diio t vhoe ede who ilke edg comueee wh wu e t ovewhem hepine ig ou the w eomo vume, wehve de wee eecto of he text we feelet iute he wok' e

The que Te k hmef qute e:o wht oe e upig oo f lc ecomth e the 18 eu crep? F ,e ge e wor, me eca the ie

ecmt ve ceg e ujt f ee T wh ge e f ece f o e t crepo? For ee queo tf eveg e, p, gmet, ore tgr the chge tht Te ppe e the fplc em e, f , the uetctue

eerme he i the itce efruture, which, ft, we ha e ee, t ext

A ge revouo oe mght htheti mtet who, hudre e efoe the

eveome f mket po detec thehet mteim of the emt f h tme, othe ght eg, pil ervee fm of e G Te ee ccze e for


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5

whom o a miracuu Pce seems able toproduce atmatclly, ith nvible o vsle had, e-establshed hamonhee a o tMket o that the State hs mate ttle, ecause hm e net ltcal ecm agee onaly eyth st emost the ece ecnmics a a eld i iel. Wheea ths ispesely hat he dstes

Ths le ltnay nt linked to gazaton o i no sccesss an cticll opedecesos ndes ht ld hen i e eetuly beieg tuly c hen it comes to thesuject emcs


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RT I

It Is Because The Economy Is

Subjective That s Quantifiable

n d o udersd Tdes m aplwe mus rs p ompee versal f u his:hig i he emy jeve l is sujv rh, irsueve d hpree w it ane rered quana and sn Bu d

h we mdi wh we ep m si d whw me y quag. These dios wil idedmdi u his f hugh i sml wa

Retu t Value() a gher lassial w Td g y dgvalu Bu s immdily h frs us hag


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directon. Becase vaue s a hgly psycholgcal dmensin a e tha eeds on belef onesre, t s qantiable becse t ossesses certannensy:

It [alue] is a quay, such as color that we atbue o

hngs, ut ha like coo exss oy wth s y way of

a peecly sujecve tuh. cosss i the hamoza

tio o he coecve dges we ake conceg heapiude o ojecs o e oe o less-ad by a geate

o esse ume of peopleelieved desed o

eoyed. Thus hs quay eogs amog those pecua

oes whch appeag sued o show umeos degees

ad o go up o dow hs ladde whou chagg he

ssea aue, me he ame "quay

T his pt is nent Tae mntnst begnnng e ve r arcle he bishe whehe was jge n e mal ow of Sla n e otWe of Frae where he ve m of i fe before

ovg to Pars T the soca cee eece it s ecesa o reach proerty a iable wich paraoxc otaie ii sbjecivies agh thi argme g cl to the poiio f arga whe pt f epatre

olil anhre n ndivas one m ever eresimate Tae' rgilit Inee never des he pe ajectives "oa an "pchogca oppo eac othe Depe Drkei' we-knwcriiims f wha Te esgnae a a pchlogc phenoenn ever refer o hg pesa

or nero t e sbjewhat he ate ca ntrapchlogca bou whic he oe ers atnig c be bt alwa t that whch s te


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mst socia n u, d which he calls or s aon"er-psychologica. a reul noing mre

freg o s anhplgy e dea

ecmicaent u rom e i wor whose lcuaos wud prese clerlyeed bundare Thers inmacy and ubjevty m n lead: our mo ntmae eve awy e mya ules Wh make Tde o dcul r u o

erstd, aer more han a ceuy o sciologsm, sthat he eve plac ocety and he nddua n ppin, bu raer, he see e wo as ohng utemporay age, prtia ablzaon, des ework a are ompleely ree he cceptscoaned i rdna socoog

Wa s a e ba o e oa ee, hview, s a knd ontaminan a mves contlm pn poin, rom inddua o nivdu, butwiu ever comg o ha a y specic sopSujecivty awys ers e cntagou nure

ders d belie wch jump m one dvdua oe nex wou everand here i he cuca pngng ug a ocia coex or ucue Theword oc, pyhooal ubjecve nnerubjeve a, hu esenly equvlen, dhey l ree o a ype o p a rajectoy emds r u able o llow em weever preume e prior exence a cety r ecoomc nucue a eera pl din rome cmng ogeer o member

The grea avge o e wys o preed

i a ey mmediately rn no pln g epracca mes ugh whh e na e nmn rm oe p o er, k paewh Trde al ray m (mve ray) n


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he book hat made him fmous, Les Lois limitan(Te Las of Imitan).

T is inial denon o he "quantum, whcs specic to vaues, wl alow Tarde to unurl n leu ohe econom a abric made itertwined relationsps where we must abovebe carel not to rus toiden hose whch are literal economic and hosehat might ony be metaphocal so Tarde ideed w

contnuously show hat on he contra economcs asa dscipline risks osing scientic objectivy becauseo a mistaken understandng boh o its m whchare too restrictive, and o ambitions, which are toovast

Tw Mitake t Be vided

L us procee sloy i order to ly grasp he orginaty o Tarde's poson. e notion o vaue extens

rs o oeen f beli and r:

Ths absa quany s dvded no hee an ae

goes whh ae he Ogna and sena noons of

shaed vg: uh s a aue uy a aue and

auy as a vaue

The quaave naue of a of he es us sed

s us as ea s s saey aaen; s nvoed n a

huan udgens No an no eoe has eve faed o

seek as a e fo eeness eos a ean gwh

ehe of weah o go o uh o owe o as

eon no has he aed o gh agans he dange of

a ease o a of hese asses. We a seak and we

as hough hee exsed a sae of hese deen odes

o agnude on whh we an ae dfeen es


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ad deen ndvdals hghe o lowe and make hem

se o fall connosly. Eveone s hs mlcly and

nmaey convnced ha al hese hngs and no only he

s ae n fa ea qanes No o ecogne his y

qanavef no measable de e and de aco

asec of owe of glo of h of beay s hs o go

agans he consan of mankind and o seas he goal of

nvesal eo a chmea

T here is en a quantitative co wc s essenial to of our assessments, no maer e object, andsial scence must take of ese assessmen ntoaccount. But, unfortunatel Tarde s quck to ad,poliica economy cone two completel eent

kns of quanaion: hat wch s "al and scarcelyapparent an hat wc s "convenent an appaentut whc reec nly he e of a very smalnumber of calcatng insent intertwine wihour passons

And ye of all hese qanes only one wealh was

gased clealy sch and was consdeed wohy of

beng made he sbec of a secal scence Polca

Economy B, even hoh hs ob ndeed gven s

moneay sgn lends sel o a moe mahemacal

somemes even llsoecson n s seclaon he

ohe ems also each desee o be sded hogh a

seaae scence

e queion of e "mnetary sgn must beconsee exemey carell Inee are e avos

two symmecal eo hat we oen commt fvewng economcs as a so of reucon, one hafreezes subjecvty nto bjecivty; or conerelextendng s rst recon to acies, en e


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"highest beleng hat one is hus displayg a sharpcrcal spirt.

Yet, not even once in ths book does Tardeomplain that ecoomists, "ignoring he wealth ofhuan subjecvit strive to quan a at he riskof hus "amptating what is human fr its moral,emooal, esthec and soca dimensions. His critcs is ust he opposie: economs not sucit

uan a of the auatons to hich they hae accessOr, raher, they do ot go back far enough aong acontiu toward he ntersecto of the tensors ndvectors of esre and belief that le at he heat, wemight s of siame.

Bu he economs negcts to recognze tat th s oweath ether, wheer agicultural, idustial or other that

cannot b conser from the pOint of view of eiher the

knowedge invoves th powers it grants h rights of

which it is a product or ts more o ls aesthetc o

unaestec character.

But the oppose mstake wd be o hnk thatarde extens he qancaons of weah ordinarilyaccepted econcs to the apo anayss oftruhs, glories, powers ehics, righ and in he

maner of Pier Bourde by he incased use of heterms capita, interest, calcaon and prot, wheherag the as symbo or ot Once agn, t ishe everse he quanabe rot hat wl aow for hefouding of a e economc scence lis rst of all nhe compex interplay beween st and misrust, n

on tn Ut of convenience and simcaton ransprted int the eatvey simped case of theexchange of asses One cold amost say that, n he


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generaized economics hat he pu forward it is hepolitical economy of wealt that represents itsmetaphorical extenion, or rather ts metonymcnarrowng-a iny part beng taken for he wholeTae proposes, instead to extend economics to avaluations whout owever, being lted to folowing he very smal number of vauaions hat eopehave leaed for te sake of convenence to measure in

terms of mone

Ceaig t Cfue Rect with Ve

It is ony once we understand the extent to wich heavois makng hese wo mistakes (he lament againstquancation, on he one hand, and he metaphorcaextenson of calcaions of weah to oher forms ofsymbolic vaue on he oher) hat we can measurehe adaci rgny and fery of he folowng

statement

It is my intention to show o the conra tha if we wish

to come to true and consquenty genuiny scientifc

aws in poitica onomy we must tun over so to spk

the awa usefu but sghty worn garment of he od

schoos tun nsid out bring to ight that which washiden and ask the sgnfied for an expanaton of the

sgnifier an as the human spirt or an expanation of

socia materias

How can we explan he fact hat economssade such a serous mstake concernng he reco andverso of her science? e reason gven by Tarde gsaong wh what market anhroologsts have shown


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again and agan over e past decade or so: no reaonsip is economic wiout there being an extension ofe cacuation tecnques of economis-in e broadest sense of e wor. Te ed ofeconos invented ine 18 centu did not discover a continent; instead,it buit one rom scratc, or, raer, organzed one,conquered it, and it coonzed it To quote MiceCaon's power prase, it is e economic discpine

at frames and sapes e ecnomy as an entity itout econoics econoy" Conrar to e obsonades of e 18t cen and just as Kar Poanyi andater Masa Sans ad so sly sown, man is notbo an economst, e becomes one On condion,oever, at e is surrounded y enog insmen

and enog cacuave devces to render oewisempercepbe derences visibe and readabe To pracce economcs s not to revea e anropoogicaessence of umanty; it is to organze in a ceran waysomeig eusve Neer is it, as we sa soon see,

uncover e ue nature of umanIn orer to understand ow te work of economss reationsips wic, wiout em

wod ave enrey derent forms, we must accurateygrasp e sma suent contrbuted by e ventionof cacation devces and, in parcar, standards sc

as currenc

Wealt is sometng muc simpler an more easiy

msured; or comps innite degrees and ve ewien ypes wi ever decreasing dierences o tat

te gradual eplacement o t nobiliy by wealt o aris-

tocracy by plutocacy ens to render e social statusincreasngly subject o numbes an measures


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5

f a of Pusts subtety is requd to pace derences in socia ra beween wann and MadameVerdun on a vaue scae, s atenton to deta is noonger necessary n order t cassi e words bionresany runoem Fne journast woud aveno roube dong snce measuremen tae e form credt an capita We must be oug isoes not mean at we ave become putocratic, tat e

omnance of commodty as been badened, atnumbers n monetar quanty are encroacng on erea an matea infrasructue at seems to underete economy as an entt Not at a te measu avngecome "smper, "socia stas as, as a resut,become easier to ident o it s ndeed appropriate todisngus beween wo tpes of measument, one atcaptus te a stae wc we coud ca eredmeasument, to dsngus t from te pe at

formas e socia word and at we cu ca er-ing measrement s dstincon aows us to see at

ere ndeed oer nsumen avaabe to mae teeconomy y quantabe

Now a man's go no ess than his credt no ess than

his foune is to incrse or decrse wihout changing in

its nature. is therefore a so of socia quantty.

Prsts and the regOUS have studied the factos invovein the pouction (meaning here eproduction) of beiefs

of "truths ith no s care than tha with which economists study he repducton of weath. hey coud gve

us essons on he practces best suited to sowng the

ith reteats forced meditation peaching) and on the

adings the conversatons an the ys o conuctthat weaken it.


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Let us ntduce he term valumt to descrbea of he devices which make vsble and readable hevue judgments hat form he fondation of whatTarde cas economcs. t s esy to magne how interested he wold be in he current era, n wch we seegrowing nbe of new ways of "obtanng data, inhe form of audience rngs, pos, markeng sueys,shows like Amcan Il competions, rankings,

auctions, spyng clcks of he moue, etc-new meansof gaherg data whic are very pcious for rendering he social status creasngly subjec to nbers andmeasures One mght amost say hat it was arde'sba luck to have lived a century before he quaqantave types of data hat are tay made more

and more numer hrogh new normaon andcommncaon systems t is sad of arde that hendulges n a mere lterary socolo and hat sineed re: he wanted desres and belefs to be quane, while he stascs of his day-which he knew

wel, havg heaed he Insute of Statics of heJusce Mnstrywere far too rumentary to capturehem odays wave of digzation should make perhaps much more aenve to ardes argument

Hw t peci Quatitie

et , however ake care to correcly nerstand hishought everyhng s potenally a nuber, becasevauemeers ony gather, concentrate extract and

simpl subtle weghgs, nnerable ogcal delsha constanty occur whn us when we encounterhose to whom we have stng aachments and whom


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we need n order to exst In oher wos, arde doesnt cam hat he caculaon devces used y economsts perorm he socal, n a way omparle to what

a wae-maker would do t aer, shapeless n el,poured n y he adle For hm, there aready exs nthe aer, dare we sa a parcular o quantumthat has ony aniirct to what ecooms ca hequantale t s precsely hs drect aspect hat

expans why hey were so oen mstaken when tryngto render her dscplne more scentc and why theyconsed heas and tals Once agan t s not a queston o complanng aout economss and her manaor quantng, whch would have appled he samestandard o comprehenson to all sujects On he

contrar argues arde, one must lament he act hatthey do not have enough o a taste or quantcaon toseek out, each type o pracce, he tensors hat arespecc to t arde argues hat he very places economsts may have aed n her quancaon revea a

numer o nterestng hngs regardg the oher typeso quantcaton whch are just watng e roughtto lght, provded we make he eor to go and seekhem ut

l o he oher nstrumen avaale to makeeconomcs ruly quanale consttute he est roo

hat tere s a vast resee o quancaon.

There are need other msures each ype of staistc is

one. e rise or fall in populary of a public gure is

measure fary accurately through votng saistics

What counlterallys he comparson ojudgmen. hs process s n no way conneced tomney as such; t s ound a valuemeters and al


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glometes hat s why t s easy to folow he gowng compason n tw domans hat an ecnomstwod lkely sepaate but hat ade has no tube -

ng, such as he pess and cency:

. . .J The dvopmnt of the pess ha the efect of gvingmoral valus a quantitatve chaaer tha was more and

more marked an eer and eer suited o ustfy ther

compaison wth he exchange value. The latter, which

must also have been quie confused n the cenuies

befo th common use of currency became beer

efined as curncy spread and became more un. I

was hen a to gve is, fo he first m o political

economy imilarly before the advent of the aiy press

he notons of he scientific or ltera value of witing, of

peoples ame and repuation were stl vague as the

awareness of thei graual waxngs an wanings could

barey be felt but wih he evelopment of the press

he ieas bame clearer were accentuated became

wohy of beng the objects of philosophical spulations

of a new so

he ognaty of dawng sch a paael sclea ade does not say hat he pess s subect to hedeleteous nence of he powes of mone; heconnecon beeen he o domans does not pass

though he qed step of seachng fo hdden focesn nasctesas we sha see, hee s not foade, any nasce at a e connecon beweenhe wo domans tely mo nmate adecomaes two styles of taecoy and conamnaonboh of whchhe st one seveal centues ago andhe second ght foe o eyesaow us t denthe nsmentaon gh whch we moe om aloca, nddal and acca system of qancaon


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to one hat is generaed, rapid, and reexive Creditand credibiit requre accouning nsumen or, to use term that is not Tardes but hat ees recisely he

oement of intercomparson, hey need Valuemeters cnnected togeher, lite by lite end upuding meologica chans which make he inter-mparison of subjectiites increasgly precise,"accentuated," and worthy of being objec of specula-

tons of a new sort." And, among hese speculaons,Tarde neer fails to clude he sociology of science, atypica case of a meoogy of learned literaure, madeisible and readable by he ery etension of he quasi-currency we call credibility where, beer han anywereelse, he ery pducon of he nely derenated

deges of belief pla ot.

How is a mans creit his me an his glo bon and

how does t grow in all of ts forms? It is ineed woh

looking at these dierent forms of proucton as well as

the production of weath and of its venal value. If there

ar any "natural laws that gulae the manuactue ofthese or those tems in greater or lesser quantities and

the ncrase or ecrease of thei vena value why would

there not one that woud guae the appearanc

gwth incrse o dcreas of the popular enthusasm

for ths or that man of the oyalis loyay of a people of

its religious faih of ts trust in this o that instituton?

If you reay want to qanwhich is, aerall, he foundaon of all sciencesyou shoud try tond a he aaable types of quantum instead of usng

jst one to anayze al he ohers. he quancaon ofglory is as good a measure of wealh as weah is offaih, or as faih s of enhusasm, and so forth Users


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of Googe will have no dculy understanding whatdigization has done to the calculation of auhorithe mapping of credibiiy and the quantication ofgor

Quantifying, Yes, but Doing o Advisedly

We now understand the consion of economists asTade sees them: whle they may have been right to seekto quan they misidented the source that coudhave alowed hem to give ceainy to their dscipineat ast Their mistake consisted n he following they

too for a measured measure the measuringmeasure aowed by an extension of the chans of inter-comparison. Ths exension itsef was due to an entirelyden phenomenon than the one they believed theywe observng They in fact hought that prgss ineconomcs had to be progress in detachment, dstance

and obecvi

Tobe as objtive an abstrac as one ul: that was he

eth.. The il was o conal uner absctions

such as ceit, sei an work, he sensations an feel-

ings uneyng the so tha no one coul noice the

an to trea hese abstracions as obects: r an ateial obects anas to the obects ate by the

cheist or the physicist an, as with he falling uner

he aw of nuber an easunt Thus, he rubic of

oney an finances, whe hs wofol ieal sees to

lie, whee evehing ss o enuerable an

easurableust as in physi an chest has always

bn he econoists hobbyhorse.


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2

a measuring measure money is, of course,cellent but what it measures, or rather what it registers i a simplied manner to make t easier to capu,

has no kind of link with hat is incated in theumbers. Not, as the perpeua humanist critics ofconomics believe because the human heart cannot beeduced to calculation," bu on the coa becauseth human hear calculates and compares constanly

but on a dnt scae and thugh very dierent lesseadabe and ess conasing weights. This is why Tardeontinues the previous sentence and proposes that weshi ou attetion towads the true souce of al ohermeasures

I mns ue h vue o whch mone s bu e signis noing, bsoluely noing i no combnon of

enirely subective ings of beliefs n esis, of es

n voiions n te eks n ougs of vlues in

the stock mrket, unike e oscilltions of bromeer

coul no even remotely be exline wihout conserng

eir sycologcl cuses: fs of oe or iscourgement in the ublic rogtion of g or b sens

tionl so n te mins of sultors

So, here we nd the expanation of thecto/verso nversio which might have seemed, whenwe ntrduced it earlier a grauitous deance o thepar o Tarde

It is not t economists ve entrely gnore hs sube

ive sect of eir subect.. his subjective st s

lwys been ge s the veso n no he reco ofeconomic science. he msers of tis iSCiine ve

wrongy believe, I et tt ominnt, or even

exclusve occution with e exernl sie o ings


24/87

coul one rise their obsetions o he igniy o

scientic corpus Even when hey h o irecly envisge

he psycholicl sie of he phenomen they nvesi-

gehemovions of he worker or he nees of heconsumer for exmplehey conceiv of humn

her so smpie n so schemc so o spek

humn sl muile h his minimum of nispensble psycholy h he i of mere posulte fte o

sppor hegeometc unoling of heir euctions.

we had quoted this passage at he begof our essa it would have seemed ke the usua amentaganst econos' mania for quanting, whereas wemust understand it instead as a cal to lkh

and espeialy h or the vauemee capabe ofcapuig human souls when hey evauate their goodand their evi when hey beieve whe hey desiwhen hey pra when they want when they becomenteined. It is on this ew and shied basis that adeoers he derent socia sciences a knd ofn

. ] Potic onomy, thus surouned, wl lose, it isrue, s myserous isotion s n unstble blk cst in

he eser o n syetunborn sociology by metphysi

cins or logcins t OUl, however, gin by ppering in

s ue pl socil SCence n by seeing ts eve-

y notions its iviSions, n its thries controlle byhe Sistersciences whch woul be illumnte by its ligh

n woul lumine i with heirs

Needless to sa intelecua hsory dd not takethis pact in any way serious and eople connuedfor a ceny hod onto the ativey absurd ideahat conomi as a dscipe ad miraculousy discov-ered underneah it a submerged frozen connent he


25/87

conoy, goveed by rigid aws and which had thenheardof abiity to feze the supersucres buito top of it. Among the socia sieces economics

aone was to be considered truy scientc because itaone had succeeded in reaching the rational and objec-ive core of the human soul

A Mitake in Temperature

How can we suari Tade's iovation so as toemember that the question s indeed one of quant-ig the econom abeit by sg it entiy nto the

ream of intersubjecvythe ony means, paradoi-call by which it can be rended somewhat scientic?First of al, by avoing another eistemoogica error,which is aso as we shal see later a serous politcaerror the mistake of thnking that the more vauemetersand meoogca chans the ae the mo economichistory moves rm passion to aso om the irratona to the ratona frm the warmth of traditionahaggg to the economic horr" of neoiberamarkets

Wil we sy ht the progress of son the spposecopnion of he progress of civilizton tk rponsi-

biliy for lzing lile by le he bstrction ign byeconoists, strpping concte n o l the otives for

ction besies he otive of person inerest? B noh

ng lets us suppose this n the s no single spect

of soci life n which one oes not see pssion gw nunfol togeher with intelligence .. o is in the econoicworl n nowher not even he, o I peeve trces


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4

of refgering rnsormion o mn in less n less

pssone a more n more ionl recon

The ew economies obseved by Tarde ro ishair at the ollge de France, tat of cass struggles,of the rst great gobaizaion movement, of themassive migrations of men, of fnzied inovatonspuncuated by the great World Fars, and the caring up

of the cooia empires in no way demosated theadvent of ason Rther, it preseted a spectacle of

[) pssons of unpreente intesiy, prigiousmbitions of conues sor of new religion Silism,

proselyising feour unknown sice the pmitive

hurch These re he inests he pssionte intestswhich it is uestion of mkng gee with one nother

n wth he eully pssionte inerests billonirecpiliss no less inebrie with e ope of winning,

the pre o lie, n the hirst for power.

hat, then is economics? We can now dene itas the science o passioate intests

e must not misunderstand his thoughTarde is not sayng that, alas, cculating economicreason ds itsel distorted, kidnapped and rturbed

by passions, coaions, contaminatons and rumorswhich prevent its caculaions from beng correct; he isnot sayig that, if, by some impossible mirace, wewere abe to rid ourseves of of his irrationalumble, we would y recover economic asonNo, thi n economcs s irraona, thing in

economcs is, we might say, extraeconomic (in theeveryday sense f the word) d this is ecaue it ismade up of assions whose astoishng development


27/87

5

the 19th cenury only ampied their interconecions It is precisely this intertwining that economistsimutaeousy caught sight of ad amazingl edmmediately with horrr as though they had seen theead of Gorgon.

In nventng homo economcus, economiss ave

engaged n a double abstracton. First te unwaranted

one of aving conceved o a man wt nong uman nhs ear; sond o avng repreented ts indvdual as

deac rom any goup corporaton s pary ome

lnd o assaton o any so This second smplcation

s no e mulang an te is wen derves.

Neve n any peod o so ave a puce and a

consumer, a seler and a buyer been n c oer's pesence wout avng irst been uned to one anoer by

some enly sentmenta relaton-beng neigbours

sarng ctzensp or lgous commnon enjoyng a

communty o Cvlzaon-and second witout avng

bn respectvely escored by an invsble coege o

assocaes frends and coelgons wose oug asged on tem n e dscusson o prces or wages

and as nally won out mos oen to te demen o

ter strcly ndvdua neest. Never ndeed no even n

e rst a o te nneeen cenu-wch s never

eless te sole per n te sto of labor condtons n

hc eve workers copoaon n Fance smed toave been desroyed-dd e worke appear ree rom

eve formal or moral commtmen to s comrades n e

psence o a boss msel entely dsengaged rom strct

obgaons or poprety towards s own colleagues or

even s own rvals

The atachmen are what must be quaedhow could this hae been forgoen? It w be argued


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that instutional economics the ecoomics of conven- .tons has for yeas accepted such imbgios as fact

Tat may be rue, but Tarde's bk was ublshed in1902! Why dd we ose a cenury? Ths is a the morestrking beause ade goes much rther than toayscautous researcers who are content to corct thePtoemac system of the pure and perfect market byaddng to it a mutde of epicyces urning n aU drec

tonsconacs tust information, rues, norms, andcoaons Yet much ke Coperncus had no one toread his bk, Tarde alady placed the quantitatvefocus esewhe The is no Pvdence in ths "nvsibe cortege of associates, and certany not that ofhaonng ason Tardes ambton a the moeradca seeng as it ds not ean on any schoo, consstsindeed in makng he cycles of assionate interestsrevolve around a derent sun, a sun whch sheds ightand buwhc seds ght bu it buns

Geing Closer Intead of Moving Away

To y grasp ths pont, we must age to give u oneas epistemoogca ptension, hat of da and

Having reached ths pont, Tade, ever courteous, aows hmsef a touch of irony gang theacbatc manuvers economsts perfom n order toget as far away as possible from csey he henomena hat hey have the chance of beng n cose contactwith, and whch, as a resut shoud jum out at them!

The arent whch is completey counterntutve,merts her anayss Tarde begns by stingushgbetween two types of psychoog no in relaon to he


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are of the objects to whch they are appied but inreation to the degree ofpxi we have to them

e emnently psycologal naure o e oca

cence o wc polcal economy s bu a brnc

would ave gven e to ewer obectons a9 he dsnc

ton been made between wo psycologes at are

normally blended o one. t s useul o noe ta te

obts o te sel can be eter natural tngs, uath-mab ther heetcay er depth or oter

selves oer spts we e sel s eleed by s exter

nal mnesaon and learns o kno sel better by

dscoveng oers e latter obecs o te se wc

a smulaneously ubecs lke t gve se to a entrely

exceponal relaonsp beween em and t wcces sarpy n g rele among e usual relaton

sps o te se w e enes o naue mnerals

plans and even lor speces o anmals . hey a e

onl objecs captured rom e nsde because her ni

me natu s e ve one o wc e subect obse

ng em s conscous However en te sel lks amnerals o stars matea substances o any sor

weter organc or norganc, e oes at pruced

ese orms can only be gused a by ypotess and

only er outwa sgn i perceived

Ths surprsng derence beween the humanword and the natra word, one that does not divdeaccordng to the usual dstncton beween thesymbolic world on the one hand, and the material

world, on the other, can found n all of Taeswork Let us remember that for Tarde "everythin issocety: stars, cels, bodies, poitca gups, the ivlyrngs of the brain "Materal, for Tade, thereforerst and foremost means "socia Cod e have been


30/87

a soiobiologist or as they said at the tme biosociologist? Coud he have committed the sin of nauraization? Or worse, that of ocial Darwinism? Nobecause there is a derence in capure and ot nnaure beween the objects called materia and thesubjec of socey: we can see the former frm afaough, and the outsi; whereas we see the latterfrom up se, in a nubes, and the ins!

us we undestand ve wel ta wen t s a questn

sdyng e elatnsps te sel wt naural bengs

and establsng te pyscal sCences ncludng en

blgy e sel tres s bes sysemacally get sel

a muc as pssble t put te least tsel ad the

pesnal mpssns ceves m e utsde n tentns t cncev matter rce and le t

eslve, pssle al nau n erms exensn and

pnts n mtns n gemerca ntns, se rgn

as utterl pyclgca nl reveals sel t ve prac

ce anaytcal eyes and n act ds nt nvlve ter

psyclcal naure at al

Tarde does not caim that economsts woud bewrong to eat human obects ie natural objects undethe ptext that as is so oen sad, that whic is humaneudes nau and objectiv" He wngly acnowedges that there ae excelent asons n hysics, inchemst or n biolo to tae the associatons of entities frm the outside as statistica clouds subject toextea forces which gove them But f we adopt thisperspective n many cases it is because we cannot grasp

them om cose enough, as we ae not abe to enetrateinto thei innermost beings Even if their orign" ethat of monads s psychologica and made u of


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eatonsps ter "naure seen fom a dstance ands a woe no onger appears to suc n any casetere woud be no advantage, no epstemoogca gan makng suc a suposton Ad e e s, drawngte foowng snnng concuson

But s ts a son wen te moment comes o study

te ecpa eatonsps o sevesat s o estabs

e al cencesfo te se to conue to t o unaway rom tel and o take as a mel or s newcences te scences of nau? By te mos exceptonal

o prvleges e nds mse n te socal wod seeng

clearly to e bottom o tose bengs wose elaonsps

e studes oldng n s ands te dden drves o te

actors and e e woud glady gve up advantage tobe able to mel msel aer te pyscs or te natu

a wo not avng oed to do wou ad tocompente for t as e can!"

"To away fom tsef? We understand te

orr at Durkem fet wen e earned of e workof s eder f e s for Tarde a mstake to beavoded, t s to take soca facts as ngs weas nte oter scences f we take ngs "as ngs t s forack of a beter ateave! How coud socoogsts and,even more surprsng economsts ave ad te crazydea of wanng to mtate pyscs and boogststug an eny artca eort at dstancng, wete vey tnkers ey tred to mtate woud gve errgt ands to d temseves at ast cose to arcesces fgs bodes w wom ey ry to come nto

nmate assocaon w e ep of ter nstrumens?y do economsts away by gvng emsees acertan dstance wc any researcer woud ws to


32/87

eliminate, at te risk of losing e ong dreamt ooppoty to understand e soca while te oerse "te scholars ty at al costs wi e invention ofal sorts of insen to c nearer to at which isat a distance from em?

Here ideed s te core e dicut techcaand ever new pont of Tarde's proposton: we candistinguish i any given aggregate associates on the

one hand and aws, ucturs and ul, on t otherit is because we are forced to igno wha sapes emfm the nside tough the swarmg of assessmenand batts of logc. To put it bunt te notion ofsru is a makeshi one an atfact of our gnorace ief due to our having too geat a dstance wwhat we std We shal show thr on te surprising poltica consquencs Tarde wi deduce from tspoint which remains a hundd yeas later an comprehensbe paradox for the majoriy of e sociasciences Fo the moment et undrstand at he

w economs mak as muc as possbe ofs exceptiona priviege at maks it possble tocaptue e hidden drves that coect to goodswthout having to hypothsze about nata awswch woud in in, give sha thes attacme It s anks o ths prviege that Tarde ive a

siology and a econocs which w be able to dowthout any tanscendence H w ot ee in e faceof economics He wan us to loo at e head ofGorgon head-o

But one mght wonder economis are o

fs so why did they ty to imtat a epsteoogywhch distanced thm so fm the pject of quanticatio i kg that they were itang e exactsciences whose libi sndi ey were i fact eversng


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3

Tarde's answer to hs is vey similar to hat of KarlPolanyi, and he draws in fact fro he same source

hrough a Sismodi quote. here have to be vepowel oica reasos in order to sused mmo sese and to reverse rincis of method his wa

hy did economiss conceive of he objec o heir

science in is mos merl secs? smond nswersI ws he sys, from he science of nnce h ws

rn h of olicl economy, hrough n order h ws

e reverse o he nral rogresson of eas

Philosohers wned o roec he ouion rom e

lunderig rvges of bsolue owe hey fel h, o

mke hemseves herd, hey needed o sek o herlers of heirtst nd no o jsce nd dy heyried o show hem cley wh he nure nd he cuses

of he weh of nions re o ech em to shre

wihou desroyng i Th s one reson why lic

economy from is begnnings, k on such positve

color d decided, de o heir own bis o disregrdny sychologca or mor condeo.

A ere discine, thousands of deaehundds of thousands of MBNs to rotect us m theravages of "absoute ower? lof that to rotec onesroty? he inveo of an ee imsona scenceto avoid favong oe? A disintersted sciece ofintest enrey based o the defense of intes Weunderstand he reason, bu for heaves sake eadsad et us ot conse hs covenent souo wih

he demands of a scence hat dseed better ow wemust iver he verso ut economcs urgh aganand et it ak at ast o own two feet: he deas thtguide he orld (and n atcua those of ecooms


34/87

who erorm ao ad ite) ad the valuemeter whch eect the movemet ad accetate thereadabl We mut to coig ecoomc the

-the word ha ever bee mo ttg-ad thecoom he choice ha to be made betwee ad . he latter rema a uow coet becaue the orme buy romg t ha cououy ed i comoo


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RT II

The Nature of Economcs

By inveting th conomis' inversion of a scienceinentd for reason oo strcty poica, Tard opnup a conien which si emain, a cetury laeragy uknown, he connn of he an goo and b which he wan to pce a h heart ofhe dicipn he inends to re-fod ad which he

mes "economic pycho Bt whr sho thisconen be iaed? Sey no e he aw, thic,asthcs, and moe an infastructue whose codobjecvity woud obey cacuabe w. Of course, he ndeed ws, thee are ndee ccuaons, th

indeed objccaon bu of this circuas ik heswe now underandby cotgion, foowingaong he etwks of ie-comparon fa ay ase ae economis boh pfssiona an maeur,


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g oing ehniqes e being inened deeoed d minined lo s inse is do e siions o eoe d good hose jdgmen i simles in b hih i i omlies e.

Ye i oe no onge beees eonomishs ed e dee meaig o e eonomy hih hd been oen simly o om ho shold one

oh e sk o elbong sol siee beo sezing bo e omg o e eonomi sienesd hh onsn esapes hs sme omg

nvention Before AccumuationThe soo Tde oes o hs qeso my seemly eexing o s: osis in sg e eonomy bk no he genel moemen o mond hedeeoed in his ohe oks The lg o ing

soiees hose ienig oms e exe o eold is no ho b end by eig ieeenes hyhms d mions on ondion hone gees o dise ee sges n eon:e et o s feene he os eedby he eeio nll he pta mkng

osibe o o emoy ge o o hee oosio h o ne deeios. e ms be l no o ed ino his moemen en o Hege'sdilei No seo l gde his old od denoeme hgh e y o egiy d on

don ee s oay o he noebooks o heog M no dene o sbje nd obje i ese sses o l d bo Le s o oge


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what Tarde says aganst phlosophy of identiy ascontadton: "To exst is to der.

a rsult, te supeme or hm s not

negation-and even ess te negaon o gaon-butater invenon, hh, oe repeated obsnatelbrngs about ountess stugges, hh an oy otte out o through other invenos Fiy yeaseore Joseph Shumpete eighy yeas beore te

eveopment of te eonois o teha hangeTarde paes ovation and te montorig o nvenons at te heart o te Foo ovaonsm te mesh oven n te bra o dvduas-abra ief onevd as e have see as a mass oneurons; anayze by ih anas tey spread dou

ment t o tey give rise to en tey enter ntoa strugge th tose nnovaos prevouy epeatedobsee ho thy end up ombinng, pilig up oe otop o te oter djusg thseves and you hae te hoe eonom hether it be o e lgiousonvitons, n pan, e egal os, railaysnana toos, or poia opinons.

e problem can be summed up as ollows: o grasp as

close as possble te geness o invenons and te laws

o mtatons Economc progress supposes two thngs on

the one hand, a gwng number o derent desres owhou a dence n desres no echange s possible

and wh he appearance o each new deent dese

he le o echange s kndled On the other hand a grow

ng number o smlar eemplas o each desre aken

epaatel, or wtout ths smtude no ndust s poss

be and the more hs smude epands or prolongstsel he mo produon s wdened o renorced.


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Te notion of accumulation does not do jstice to tis press of dierentiaon t dscries a paseut only a pasef te indsty dring wic oyte autor of te repetition is active t onl arks amoment, albet one necessar to developmet, icalows markts to grow, but never to cange pats t isaso te product of an economic sciencestating witeconomic siologywic trea entiesumans

and asse, seices and tecologiesas intercangeable, since tey are seen from a distance, witoutcaptug te smal dierencs tat would expain tatcange is not an exogenous k suddey befallingmonomaniacal cpitalis Tis is wat Tare criticsin Dan

Hs mstake [ . . .] seems o me to ave been n relng ar

ore on the strggle or eistence a bolcal orm o

opposton tha on crossbeadng and hbrdzaton

biologcal oms o adaptaton and harmon A ncton

st as mpoat as te prodcton o a new speceswod not be abe to be a contnos and dal ncon

whe the simple prodcton o a new ndvdal-genera

tons a intermttet ncto An cptia phm

and not a dal phenomenon, mst be at te base

o ths specc ovelt. And . a ee hbrdzaton as

an ecepton, s ar neater tha a heredta accmlatono smal advantageos varatons tgh competton

and seecton to eplan te ormato o new tpes o le

f accmuaon is ot te relevant point of entyto nderstand te dynamcs of te ecoom oe mst

look elswher Te interference and itersecon of tepats of dse w abt idivduas ae mucbtt suited to provide iformaon on te pbabliy


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3

f nexon ponts Hren les te pblem of thenoton of aculaton: t ds ot rovide informatnn te inteis of the eonom

When at the cruca moment on a batteeld ust terght glance rom the general lets an uncean vco tlt

to one sde the vctory s de to ths sudde da not to

the accumulaton o te pror eos. And wen out o a

thousand researchers a snge one hrough a sudden

ntuton dcovers the soluton to the engma sed to

al t s not the long and terle eos o the others not

even the duraton and ntensty o hs own eosoen

lesser than thers-to whch credt or the dscovery

hould be gven

Aulaton s not a good andidate, andeor aone guaantees nohing So hat ae eonoms e th to expan the shapes of the eonomy?Genus, of ourse, but a ype of genus that s attanedrst of though the terfeene of al te nes of

mtation Genus does not guaantee anythng t issmply a quk ay to sum up hat e have obseed,not hat e may pedt In hindsght, the queonguraton hh bngs nto exstene the soluonto a reatant mathemaa probem, or te genea'sgane that saves s toops from deat, o tat shee geus lies; t does not esde at a n the authorof te theoem, nor in the genea hsef Tademetions enus farly oen as if he gave importaneto the ote rappg of the ndvdua eus ths is a ngust splao and a ay of evoking

the abliy to ompose using nes of nuee enus ot a pont of depature; t s o moe a pae ofation than t s oe of passo It s mor peisey a


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moment of ncadscence that ca only evr bedescibed, never recreated. Here again Tarde does notset up an opposion between the mysterious origin ofthe indviua genis and te savish mitation of pastmodes He shis leves: a genis is an indvidua inwhom the muttudes of repetitios and imitatios(tose lively rngs of te bran) ad, dar we sa afe of thei own

Let s ote, in passing, that trade, which sooe sees as a par for the economic robnsonnadesof the 19th cet dos not d i pace in Tade'secoomics Tade does ideed exist, but it is bughtback to i proper rol n the eeaogy of make.Wht lanches a market, what bds an econom isot tade which is but a zero-s game; t is ather tepoog and the coora of pvosy scatteredenerges Tarde pacs fat and st at te center ofths poog eort

On hal o the tuth s beng told n seeng te tradecontract as the essental and semnal economc event.

rade n trut avors and develops drectl onl

consumpton he dect agent o poducton s anoher

contract whc s no less semnal and no less undamen

tal the loan contact hrough trade we do each oter

avors but al whe deng one anoher gve and akethrough loans we place rust n one another

s, we can see a vey singar eatoshipbetwee ath and invention: a shared movemetconsisg connecng and gatheg prevosy spa

ate etes It is necssay o thee to be tst fo therst tansacos to come into beng t s ecssay tooosn the aon o H ecic on te re o


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prot because there needs to aso passion and risktaking in order to brig te ecoomy towards newpaths hough the emergence of sma dierencesTust mch ke venon, cates new groupings itds the economy in a ceran way which ten conrmed trough repetion.

Dience and Ren oth th ofGiles Deees thesis and Tarde's ndamenta pric

ple Invention producs dierences repeon aowsfor their dision conct is inevitabe no prestaished hamony aows for a souon (as we sha atersee) it is necssay to invent yet oter soluons inorde to temporariy generate othe ovatioswhch by epeag temselves, wi produce otherdierecs, and the cyce wil begn agai Tha is thdamenta rhyhm, the back beat that, aone, aowseconomc acvy to acqir reaism What we eed tofolow order to stabish an ecoomc science a"states of mid and "logica dues

Fom salesman to clent, rom client to salesman rom

consumer to consumer and rom produce to producer

whethe competn or no tere s a contnuou and

nvsble tansmisson o eensan echane o

pesuasons and ecitement throu conversatons

thouh newspapes throh eampe-whch pecedescommercal echanes oen makin them possbe and

wch awas elps to set ther condtons.

e fabrc of vectors and tesors which deeste atachme of peope ad assets conssand here

ies Tardes tuly ovatve characterf argumewhose premses and deductos form pactical gwhich are, in fact, the whole substance of economcs


42/87

Either throug auortaran suggeston or hrough

demonsatio, we can oly communicate our tougt

to othe (whc s equivae o a g of asset the ulat

eal begnng of a exchage of good) o coon thawe pese tem ogh he easuable a quanta

tve aspecs. If t s a queso of fong ou judgment to

omeone ee' hea throug demontaon we wl

nee a moe o les explc ylogim that a elaton

hp beween peces an genus o beween genu an

speces establshe beween wo eas whch meas

tat ne s clued n te oter s of the ame type

(ueterme o etermne bu real) of thgs whch ae

ma a peceved a smla that the ohe he

genera pposo ecopases a oans

For Tarde, the economic matter-his is whatmains so dicult for us-is a rea force because it is aretorica power: it is indee a question of persuasionsylogism an convicion. Or rather, retoric attains init suc power because it encaches so o spea on te

abity of the monas themselvs to assess an to calculate It is becase of ths backgrun o "calcableorces that the aditon o cacatve evices ometlogica can, can ave suc a erformatieexplcatory capacit that the can even become orcesof proucton It s becae the monad cacate at tims n possible manner that the aition ocalclatie eices, wc are nsce prosthssbrings abou such a prodigous amlicaon o evauations Tare's ceverness ies in adding, to the interWinng of caclaons the ecisve roe o theoris an

doctrineNowhere can his aumen be better seen than onthe wedissed subject o air prce no timeoe he hink i possibe to appea to naureto naura


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41

aw- order o esabsh he derece wh rearce bu eher does he eer ae recourse o he

objecty smy of he mare to dee hs rce.cooms n vewg a the atural o nomal pe e

pce to whch the feet most unbe comptton

lea beleve they wee so Ong elmang he

bthesome ea of r prce But n eaty all they

was to jt th way he real pce pecey, oethe most abusve oes, me uner te yranncl le

of he sogest An he pobem s that s way f

eeg thngs, whch tself a uncnscou way

oncevng fa prce all wle enyng act ats

qute a egetable way o eal pce Whe eveoe has

been pesae o the stegth f te wrk f acetecnomss at he pce auomatcaly eemne by

he "fee play of supply an eman ustce tsef

thee no oubt that ts geneal belef play a p n

makg possble fo exorbtan pce o ps so

mnmal tha pubc coscence woul have ecte

them othe tmes t be etbe wu pret een wh geeal appva

aways for arde, he sceces do mo hanust ow hey add hemsees to he word, heynoe , hey fold t, hey comlcae t o meus

on a we sm t o ohers-bu we sodeer assume ha we ca rus hem to emaemora ha bohersome dea of soca usce Ee oe succeeds, tuh scec clam, n nnower sules, or obecte scece and he aue of

ths, he fac remas hat mos of as, judme, sma dereces, and crtcsms wod forceeeryoe to reeauate e reato bewee e jted rce and he far rce


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Beses how ca we ey the cto f the ea tat each

pero each coun a on wat s us as egas

pce? To wha type of osumpt s moralty entelyfoeg by maly we mea te upeo a pofuule of couc n accoace wth he ma covcons

a pason whc gue lfe? An f we set ase these

cvct a hese omnatg paon whch ento cnscou ae te ocal an nvua foces pa

excellence what ae we explanng potcal ecomy?

oing wl coo passionae inerestsImaging economy hat is wse at la, reignngcooly over idivuas who rationa an reasonabeat ast, rule by goo governance, is le imaging an

ecological sysem wih no aas, plnts, viruses, orearhworms

A Socia Dainism, But an Inveed One

so be clear by no his moel aes erDarwn more an aer Hegel One migh aue hate whoe secon a o e 19 ent wsDarwiian Bu Tare unerstans immeiael hanso metaphyscs o ierence, at Dsm, at

utimae remey aganst Pientiasm immeiately becomes a poson-socia Darwnism-as soon asone sureptiously as to i in in to emonas an cial sucure a master pan a na esign l is nvention mtiplciy an petion

but e ater are gue by no plan, no iaectic, nonai It is precsely cocernng e ling oe closeto us, at we must aboe no start to separate oewho organze m ose who are or Tare s


45/87

one of the rare thinkers o the 19th cenuy to hav"reisered Darwinism withou . immeiaey sg

s discoeries rou the addition o an aricial-

scendence: eoluion as a creator, the opu, nralelecon of the ttes Here is indeed ye another exmple o Tarde's orinaiy in his ie o nauaialways means to u-objec in order to inersubecti" and, by the same oken, o pl economic acy

away rom scientic claims That is why he immeiaeyees ow o erac Darwin's poison and to keep oe remedy to the serious sickness wc consis iseei to se the American eprssion, inteentsn n the li

We know wel tha the oucstone, i ecnomi as e as i boog, is aways the queson ocompetition, o aession It is aways possible to ehe ue om the ase Darwinist by the peasur eaks in usin (or not) economic compeohh stories o wols, oes, bnbs or prayi

matiss Whereas Tarde, with a perfecy steady had,always keeps s rom msakin competiton or sometn other tha a pacular moment beeen iention and adaptaton There is no ambiguiy on hispoi: economis ust lke nauais, must al be eamied so a we miht rasp what nau ca realy

oer us

s mstake wthot a ob s no mte o ecn

msts ey boowe t om e atalss wh wee

a long tme sece n gra ash s e by paaxcal ea seeg the cos bae o h

lvg the amenal aue l pogess an n

genealze me nva the ve ceato

peces A ey s go ha Das g


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pe hs paax t mt o a pesent s t

estabse at atra eecton that excee age of

png ematn oes t eate ayhng an post

hat whc t cams t expan-vng envaos- hem of va vaan an tha the sece of theseceaton o fe ae en fom o es n te epths of

he eze egg ea of contng n te ote sock

f ogam ghtng each othe we not see wha

the gaa popagao f he gge o extece an

of ata eeco eahe tems of feocos covetng bewee natos an casses? ee ha to be a soc

et saate by the aw of foce cecty o no

ece fm tese hypoteses to make possbe h

enoms nme of assats aganst the weak theeeae wc e the ame of cooa ptcs

cas stgges o Epean statesmen aeay pactcea o teeta st ava

Tere isnt te sadow o acquiescence as wecan see, wit te naturaization o the sue or ie

One wod hae o wait or ha a cenur and for tebriian work o Poanyi to d te same dee oinination aains the aarmin sophis o a deceptieeconoics jused by an equall deceptie iew ofbioo But Tarde oe ther than Polanyi or hewan to remedy te errs o biooy as we, and o

pure no only economics bu re ielf o Proidentiaism

[he mtake] s ot oy apt skew e sp bt aso

o copt te ea t coss beevng essentay

hat be e c wee hman even are we

ee a s f Mepsopean nseg y that

enys makng goo come fm ev a ev come fom

g eowng meo hate exasperato a


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the bellcse coflc of egs a apaces wt sala

ely a n makg ve, fah, seestees an

abegato amfl A stessng cte whose tth

shol be epe as t s tag, b wc povenfalse ms be acally extpae becase t s an

encoagemet of the ev pases an becase t paa

lyes te geeos mplses eeed mpte by t

I is possble o measure once aain, jus as orhe uesion o air price he ecienc o a sociooywhich always ollows he maeria pah coered bydeas in order to unleash erocious coetn and tocommi assaul aast he weak or he deeatedhere must be a docineand hus researchers

hinkers media and metroloica chains A docrineha is he more disssin as it ds not settleas he usua critics o naura selecon dor brininhumans down o he ee o animas but raher andwhat s perhaps worse in Tardes iew, it brins heanima and he liin down as well o he lee o whaeconomism had tried to do wih humans

I he is one hin hat Tarde will not aow is to ust war and he surial o he test thisresa apples to plan and animas, as wel as to menThis does not mean ha conic did no exis On he

conrar he make up ha o he book Neer does heie imse oer o he pleasures o a harmonious ecoloy which would appea to he reat peace o nau inorder to be rid o human baseness Concs are eerwhere, bu nohin uides hem; here is no opmumwhich uarantees he suria o he es There is no

diaectic, here is no more Pidence han here isMephistopheles no more God han here s he eFor Tarde, to naualze does not mean o lower bu on


48/87

e contrary oeate economic aciiy to e leel o pliferaion, mtiplcaion and inention whc willmake i possible o epain e ctt of oods and noony ef o he ecane

Redistributing Production Factors

Indeed is arwinian bu neier social nor neoarwinian manner o conceiin o e inerinino an economcs o nau, makes Tarde n a sense anatenie obsrer o what was no yet at is timecalld bioechnoloy and biopoliics Nohin

preen uman bens rom addn ends to esenaus now in e plur hat hae no nai in hey a nenions m below, so to speak!

e eal en was wch humaty moves wthou

yet ag a pcse awaeess f t s o te oe a

to compose ug te bet f al of the plae's floa aaa a ams cce of vg begs wkg

ogee wn a commo system of ens towas the

ve same es as tose of ma feey pe; a

ato to cape al te foe al he ngacsubsaces t subugate hem gethe as smple

mea to te nw convegng an csa es oflfe. t s fm te vewpot f ths ta outcome tatoe must an to uesta the exe to whc he

fuametal oepts f poltcal economy ee o be

e

Ths is e reVson a Tarde akes uponhmsel in Pchog Eco B plunneconomic aciiy back ino e unersa ow o


49/87

4

onas, he neer believes that i is possible o unersan the nentions of economic anything other

an the amplca f the inentons of naure a,n hs ie s the principe pruion facor? eonnecting o human invenions o the counless nenions of this naue, whic nohing unes

s t oly the epouco of weath? a coul be but

o conton that we cy ou a tough aly of tepocton To stngus ad capa ad abr o

t elucate much f us f we get o the bom o

tee g we f ta tey wk emeves t

tough erent kns of epettons Wat ad f othe enemble f physcal/cemca a vg foces wch

act on eac othe a ug each oe an sme fwch-hea lght eleccy cemcal compu

subsance-cosst aatg repetton of eteea

molecula vbrat a the other CUltvate plas a

ometc amls ess raatng a expansve

pe f geneatns cfomng o e same

ganc ype to a new ace ceae by e a ofgaee a beee?

e can see how Tare soves the pble onaturalization: by cong nearer to the innovations,repetitions, an aaptations of tngs themseves, byoering the, e says, new hi The consequenethat oUow-so astonshing for tay's aer, who isso quic to for the facors of pruion in capialan wor-is to see bth of the reistribute.

Wha s abr f t a esemble of huma actvtesome epeat netely a cea sees f eare

act tagt hog appecesp f example wecntagon ten also t aae ceaelesy?-A wat


50/87

s ata tself f t n what n my vew s s essene

a cea gp of gven vetons bt ones vewe by

he peson expotg em as knwn that s as thogh

hey ha bee ansme to hm by the nventosog an ceasngly geneaze a poplaze tel

ectal eeton?

I sees tha Tarde lies research bu no work

e sns te praises, in 1902, o a ciiliation o leisurecaes conersaton ashion, trinets touris At heery oent wen the iron aw o ennui and echaniation was bein iposed when here wod soon bethe aw o he iision o abor Tarde sins the praiseso idleness o he chatter o the ide classes lke in the

olowin striin passae on one o his aorite hbbyorses conersaion as an essenta producon acor

Cat s emently eestg to the enomst

hee s no ecoomc eatonsp beween me hat s ot

s accompae by a excage wrs whete

ebal we pte teegape o telephne Eenwhe a travele exchages procts wt slaers whse

agage e es t kw hse swas ly take plae

og te meas of sgs an geses wc ae a

set fom agage ato how o tese ees

fo poto an csmptn-f ale a phaewch ave st een mtally satse y a tae

ccle thaks o coveratn ase? Most on

hanks aga t cversats wch a spea e ea

o a ew pc o by o pce fom oe ec

to t anothe a alog wt hs ea ha spea tst

n e qates o te pt o ts fohcmg otptan naly e ese to osme t o to mafate t

If the pblc never coerse te speang mecha

se w almost always be a waste of tme an te


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hundred thousand adveisg rumpes wud oud in

va. If, fr ju oe wk, cnversaion ceas Pas, i

would ow ve quiky roug he guar decreae

h uber of saes i sre. Ter is maaer mrepweu an cosump nor as a rsi, ay facor

mre powe-abe idie- prdui a e

caer f idividuas i heir ide hours.

M woud hae ot liked ths argumet Sure what wod todays vr marketg speciaistsythose who cacuate with extremey sesitiemechsms the sghtest mood ariato o the mostarcissistic of blogs? Here agai Tarde did ot i hisime possess the meas to proe that the quatica

tos to which he aspired we possibe but todaysgeera digitzatio makes it possibe ow to come backo hs a hypotheses perhaps more protabl

Capital TrendsA shockg reersa of aus ertig the harsh reaties of matera ifrastructus? Tare doe ot factrerse ythg because for there is o frastructure or ay supersucture For he preiosly

redistrbuted the factors of pductio seeig thesubte ariato of beief ad dsire the tue source ofaue Whie barey eaggeratg oe ca say that iecoomcs is supercia s morl aU is irratioaa is subtet We have but to read Tardes scssio of

capita to be coced: my vew ere are wo eeme be disnghed i

he o of capa: frs eseia eesa capa


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that s a he un nentns, the pm suces f cent wah; send auay m ess useuaa he pducts hch bn hse nentns

hep thg e mens hese ne sece t ceatthe odcs

These o eees ae dieen o ess heae way a a pat sed he ger s deen thse ie suppies f uients whch ee andich we ca cyedn. Coyds a not ndispens

be ee ae pas ta epdce wit e. They us vey useu. he dicuy s n i ticin hhe the sd is oned o hy ae eaiv arge heiy ge is hdde b he. he enoiss ho sawapia as cnssng soy i the saving and accuuaon o aier pducs ae ike boaiss o od viw

a seed a bi nie ade p cydos

"Cotyledo capitl! We c just imagieLe, i Zrich redig Tarde ad lughig upariousy t tis ridicuous boti d bucoic imge. How

fr this is from the imge o git poer hmersfom the smokg actoies, fm the orksops, fomthe stikes ad fom the barricdes whc t the timegitd te spirit o te revoutoaries But wat ite story is ot yet sed ose wo oday pass o of te ued remis o idusia s or o

ace owers fot of te moume erected oor of the s o ouos ought to red witgter attio wt dieetites cordig toTarde "uliy cpita om esse cpita

In sho he y ha is absy indispesabe fore prdcio of a e eine i h deaied kwdgeo engies pas o h o anua he ad,even or tha ho exac e aia whch


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tey a made This bndle ideas each whch is alage o small vnion owed o a kown o uknonnveto his bnde o inventns al gtherd in a bain

that s he onl poion o old rodcso hs s deeda mental poduct the t of schoo eachigha simpeaiely equrd o he bildng o an egine Adhe same coud be said or h poducion o ay iem

O couse he indivdal who redcd to ths ecual egacy the as wold have neih seds nor

supplies no oos wold hefoe be in a deporabecodto to cay ut agcura ndsta wok B would not be imposible o hm o podce a bi sooeror t aerwheeas f poded wh the seeds hemos aundan maerias amassed and accumuaedtrgh savngs, and wh he mos peed eqpent

he is a the sam ie ignoan of the sres of hendsty he cams o ead o the methods of he cti which he engags he wil be srck by productmpoence in spite of a o his spposed capa

5

We wo nd ourelve grappng a enuryaer work w o-aled "kowledge oeeag globalzaon, onfroned w burnng queon of ehnal reear, pol novaon, andwo begn o penerae no e mo mae ableof lvng organm, undernd ha e mage of ap

al elf mu hange from op o boom To be ure,Tarde omeme heae on e exa araerzaoof germ-aal Bu wa nere m eah me ebly of germ-apal o vary over me, o der

Le rele for a momen on he derenoppoon Tarde e up dene e germnal araer of apal Fr of al he dee he donbeween apl and abr "T e dnon beweenap ad labor h ome bak, eene o ha of


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mode ad ts cop" Le us y o see mo cerly no .hs so whh seems so odd o us, gve h weare so used o hkg of lbor he mn source ofvue.

If cp s e mde d bor op t isrs o beuse Tre udersds work n s mosbs sese i orer o ler eh wh fls ino heego of petion from wh as io h o

nveio Work is rw force iet wihouspei qualiies d ipbe o eectg deeces s ow moveme A hge eg i omesfom he oude Thus he work of veo priseb bor soioogss s remrk of he irreucibiito he hum s lre of diere orer: lredos myrid operors o dereo h modhis rw ore o evirome jus i so s omi hbi Eve he mos repeive lbor wekow requres ouous produo o sml ovos h rcue d h e c sml prelm

i resouios o opposiio Lbor loe everdverge eect ierees i dversit loe i o pe d hus ef Equppe wh moel beds leghes is rjeor orer o geroud obsles Tre hs he uit o o ke hework o veo-whh is o s he sok i re obor socogs-or pure red bu rher o see t web erg o w ore wh vemoes mobize ordg o opposios He psvey cose teo o hese moes

. ] he ds no hav any ools he woke he ldsw anace he sng ser oos or e usnghs nges dervd o coors or brshes the ater las aage o ake he b on on codo, whch


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is the ny necessa ne: that boh woker and pantewll ave aleady seen tools and hei akng wic hewill take as es unless having nve seen he or

nee seen the being ade hey invent he

Labor as raw force, then, songly resembles"otyledon apita-seonary aptl These wospecies share te araerisi of not being abe todeet ther trajetor autonomousl Wha is theeason for their ak of autonomy? Paraoxial it isause they are ends wh are too pure, wi meansha they are incapabe o hanging ourse. Autonomyomes on ompoun, ony to those entties whh arehe resul of unstabe interferenes When the raw

ore of bare work onsis o an example of a previoussoution to a smlar oppositon, a derene can beeee When ine atter nds ief plugge ino aouton tehnque, a proess of anian s arrieout, whih brings us into the work of apil n tesit sense Just lke raw abor, otyleon apital is anexerise in thought a borerline ase that is needul to d in the el of eonomic anthropoogIn prate, it is always a ompound whh is enotere But it is one again Tare's analytial sength topoint to the large onepal ens that the noton of

apaa, as we shal see, tha of apitasmtooqukly onaten icut but lmnatig passages, Tare

omes lken nviuaon, oslation ad germinaion To be a genus a to be a germ are oenose t is as muh a reeition of a germ as osi

aton as it is a reeton of genus as the ntersetonof nes of uene an imitaon Tare even, at tmesienes the spirt with the germ, su as wen he uses


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the expresson "human captal,' wth he novatveabilty of entepreneu n mnd. Bu agains an eono

mst readng o han aptal whose posterty n theChago Shool n the perso o Gay Beker we wellkno Tarde paes the ne divdng he waters esewhere One agan he econom agent s not the onyplae for derentaton o the germ One an even satha the H econoic s the poorest case o eren

aton: ath to hs mximzaon maxms he wil beontent wth rationatng and repeatng rather thanderng I one wan to d n eonom teraue aneampe o he wok o germnaton t s to JohnMaynad Keynes o oseph Shumpeter that one shoud

oo n the portra they pant o enepreneurs Theres thus a double eadng o ths new theory o aptalbrought by the germ On the one hand we have apal as a soue of satn oowng Tades terestn hetan (ound n a nmber o hs earer wrngs) t lteraly usng an epresson whch has beomestandard among the hstorans and socologsts o thecontempory senes a sudy o capal in te akin

But there s another possbe readg o thegerm-aptal whh mnzes oaboratve orgnand ts reoluonary dmenson Sh a readng

empases nstead the ge as a nshed prdut thacan be pseved and passed rom one generaton tanother The potenl haracter o the germ s thus ostInstead what omes to the foreront s the lose reaonshp between the germnal orm o capal and thememo capaty o the eonomc organzatons thaar t

A scoe or a von at mh ncreae asowee o powe or both a he sae e as


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manifests self eiher wihin s in the mm neves o mscles as a enal clich an acqired hi,a noo a taleo n the otsid i a bk r

machine. A book is b an esion and an appedx o ba a mache is a addtoa mb. We mg saethe that a book is a eeo mem ha a memoyis an ineal book h a so of invsible brarahdden i o nne sel, paced beo or eyes at hedesid mome Smilary a machine is an eerior ale

ad a talent s a ner machne s, he diere admie skils o he crasmen o old, heir ong apprenticeships and her gradua toring up of parcular habitsal his was ade largely useess b he constucion olaer achies. e laer ae nothing more a heouard projion as ell as the oen podgious ampli

icaion o these ales and o the organs hough whichsch aens a exhbed. And oe ca jst as well sayha, i he desrctio o sch machies rcd talents tobe revved if or exaple he eiminain o pinngpresses broght back caligraphers and manuscrp llumiaors o the elimnaion eile mills brgh back

the old spiers hese reborn alens wold be like hesmpiid and duced re-embodimens o the desoedmachines

Toos d memoies e ths iexticbyied Te pood d te supeci, te ited te exte, the t d te tici-o ctegoy escpes te Tdi eedg

I edeig gem-o eessycpitaTde so edees cotyedo secod-cpitIt is ot ve dict o be moe pecise o tis topic

th te ecoomis so spshod ws te me wich te te det wit mte cpit see s get hep o undrented . de's novtve


58/87

thi s owere more evie ta i hs csserai o te wors o a a arie Searchr wa characterizes e too comes to ee t asgrient o retance

oos both hose use fo maua tasks an thseuse f u tsks emsees ae hou bee sbsances in he so stae a t he lq

aseous sae. Why s hs he case? Bause ouan o lea someth hat pus p some ressace:sy s bth essace a supp Eqpe ay ae w es so tme cocte h een nma a pa fe fom oe e o he oher o hezoloc scale w ca observe hs nssolble lnk e

os lv creaures are h appences r exessof each ce They a mo r ess mobe an awaysmae o o a m o s essan ac a they arhe mbs o the oasm s a whoe lbs ha alwayshave a cea sly n rea to he rest o he by.

We see the eio bewee e erm a eoyeo beter aer ti meto of te esseasoity of toos a of pysica capita By stiuihi te esties o te two orms of capitate spesabe oe wic ever stops ivet a ieri

a te secoary oe wic always remais achoreto i habi-ar mas it possible o raw ateioto a ew rae o variaos: whie erm capi awayees iveti (or aapao), cotyeo capitaraws oppsio to ie Te erm suvves oly byis versatiy a is abiity ot to be froz a staformua but raer t expore ew coecosa to

avoi opposio by costay aapti Fixe capitamateria apita is ever so ucy; t ara oppostio a h ro


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5

An Economics o Com possibilities

re eows rhu or suprhum geesh deses b oe g brekg dow he boures esbshe b eoom heor moreocered wh oder h wh he egb o hessoos bewee peope d goos Hs mserxmpe o he eoos o books cer usrese eso whh us hrough hs ew heor o pt Trde descrbes he bookssse s h whchbeomes pbe o reg es eemesros repusos hrough ge of quoos reerees

Bu wee coideed a podc or a a cig a

book capabe o ayn ief wi oer bok o of

cmbaig em ere i o book cniderd a a

eacg wic i no made wi oe book oe gve

in e bbiograpy, ad amog wic e are om o

wc e can y a i i made for em bae icom ad compee em we we ookng or e

geera condio o e pducio o book a ecoo

m av okd o e of e pduco o

commodiie we wod ee a e amou dincon

bewn e r facor o ad capia and abr ca

poiby be appied ee b w ome gea ad irucve ranformao paicuay ag capia wc

od be coed a e ceaeey gowng beque

o woy id m e pa o ubeque dicovere

and veo.

B power eg ewors d pug ogeher ggreges he book prpes the work o he ger c be e ove


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series when it is made a precursor, an initiaor of someovel I an aso be redisovered aer several deades

of sumber and reopen hoe continent for ureresearc (much ke Tre's ork!). When it is forgotten it is but a repetitive specimen and a cse o cotyedon-capta But hen it is rediscovere i activitypic up agan just li bacteria that as been quiescentat o temperaure. Once again one must be arenot to be misle by the metpor o the germodeand o he otyedonshapeess maer Nohing isshapelss in Tae's onoog e aone n his economis. is no oncidene tha Tare s Leibnizian: in eahs there are pnds e ith more s and so forth

' innitumt is sng to note ho Tares sarp attention

to the circuation o exampes an the proesse of ision as presen n the economic iterature of the 1980sunder te notions o standardization and path epen

den Such literatu brought bak to the orefront thespecic maeria quait of economi gds themselvesThe haacteriss of thse gd hih ha been hea a dstane an hih entere nto me s mepoin in a connuous spae (an thus pon hiccou be move about because they e essentia

inteangeabe) arise again s e soures of argescainustra epoyment Wihout aays formuangthem n the same a these moe recent economc eorie take up the most origna Tadian intuons not tossign a source to the economy rarit mation

ntest bu rather to sign it a pschogy base oncompabiy and haon on oppsion and rhymEconoics no onger rests on a peesta or on an utimate founation site but raer soey on the stabiiy oa congration From pint of ve the ivisions of


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59

adoal eonom teo no onger make sensero an aro are but two arbary po whc

e

te work o ormattng oordnaton staardaon an ompatblt an en up temporarlyesovg era con troug new aaptaons

There Has Never Been a "Capitalist Regime

we aept al o Tardes sange deas on prduonactors we may noe ta deded n our sosometng oer an te rse o aptasm asocurred Tarde does not eeve tat any grea splt

radal revouton or epstemoogal break urre toupset eonomc sto and gve brt te captalstyda

Wha al accumlaes as we knw bause o a needthat is no hisoical or coned u odern socet

bt raher ogical and nversal s he ge-captal, halegacy of the indestuctie ideas an's genis. Fothis poit o view o speak o a ptat m as capaism e a rasitor phase scia devepenwould be to use he os ill-suted expressio he moslikely o lad he spiri asray When t coes maeia

capial, b o this inellua capa t continuoslyse-desrucs and repodces isel ad s o his aloneha John Stuat Mill's reark coceng the sped wihwhich capia generates isel aer the ravages o ar orevoltion applies. Bt i does no alwas geerae Wehave seen i annihilaed never o ise again nd hesptacle f natis in decline gradual growing pooris sch as o convince us ha there is o inenl eedorcing i always o gow


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at en, happened under e ne of capialis? No "intenl neessit an explain it.

Thghot Pchoe Ecoue, Tade ephaszesaohe phenoenon wiot y beak with e pasthih he demes as the tesn o teca o eneoks o iitaion d ontintin with itsesting mathematzt whih e st no ongense s shold by no ler wih ool objetiation. eve o e ove e olashioneh o exhnge oeial bstation FoTae theeoe thee is no ise i bstation nooodt eishs no y eease passios oinese odess We ove f he past to e

peet thgh a geate tetig o dstnesthogh a gate teang thgh a e iiteinvoveent e ne tehniqes iovatiputio eiat ad niatinThis is re o exape f the passage o townies t ode aveising:

The ason behid ths evoluton, ts gaua replac

ment o aoust avesng by visual vertsng s that

te latter s fa me kely than te mer to sprea moe

wely. Its reah thrugh newspaper announements

thug the many examples o wall posters an spreaenessy, wereas t s cult an ostly t geatly

nrease the numbe o twn res Avesng n sht

evlves n he ecton o greaer an geate ah

an easy Te numbe acust aveseens wul

no be abe to go beyon a ean numbe n h ty

steets wut resulng a general eaenng weste numbe vsual avesements an gow whout

any ne o tem sng s snct vsual chaae

atoug they mght beme blud n ne's memy


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6

Hee aga e e oe eaebeeen ehnes an aong ses o eone h an ha e gh a ' he thenn or Captas as e sa see e s seoee poses ense pota a pbehh asates Tae t he es o t o a hstoa anpoogy ogh he se epo ooeny a absa. We beoe Fea Bae

n Ie Waese s n tes o eos a he boeg o st systes a oe sh gspe apoogy o es on e pa to goazao The ge an extee b ey o beae ess soa ess e-sbeve ess pssoeyteeste Oe eooze soe b oe ee tonaze t no oenze t So e s sa Tae ese ee e Sto Maet tsastonshg sovees s aa paes n he ve oatoa ae o ae as ae oeg tothe v instments, he sae esbjev eve

oe eange even o neseI halenge anyone o jusy hrough ason alonehrough he ol an juous alulaon o probables

or he use o sensbe ws e o er own eves wth

ut the uece the he vaguely ryhm oslla

ons of any gven value or exampe o he Enlsh soover e as wo enures

yo o e to dean hy e eonoy s st a oeost tesjetve yo have ohe o he so aets! Thee yo no bstato b o e ona bg evee aa speaon ee s a qesto pese o speao e ntesbetve a psyhoga sese o


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e duls discssed earlier. N ne wh tries t mesense f th recet wrld cil crisis wil dey at

Trde t be right Whereas the ua cplin ist ce s de the eny sct,hwever, e stck excge the ecny wks nt its hed, t ided n its eet

Beoe e badenng of e maes and e nsuon

o So anges, e ere no ard saes oyaally fx pe o ea. u s e pce oea unde e Ancen Regme or eampe deermne

by e ea nsuceny o oveabundae o ea n a

gven rego, or a a gven me? No. A a me en

eope ere ve ll-nfomed e one ne ony e

aes o one's one vllage abundance o sary sudged based on e amou of ea boug no e

mae al o e le negbng on. I as eoug

o a fe monopozes (or ere ere nded supeope en, us as oday ere ae bg baners o play

on e S Marke) o dan e arves f oe o oons or o sock er on aes (n e ase o large

andoners, o reae e appeaane o an enrely a

al scay sued noeeess as f abeen real n a pdgou e n e pe o ea

W cn s hw fr w hre e ide d f e c he sl And is fr a rcl rasn t whc Tade dedcte ypge: e spred f valeters, the ecnidscipe de th uli f the sial ise

Ec ds nt lwer h tprt d sujecvi f passins: thruh eaure, it ers e sght addnal pedtalt If th e f Sck Mk s, r Te, ut as ptt quesn f price fn, t is cause it we can clel


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see the entirey pychologica pagem uneain babili a paage jut fctated, . amped impi-

ed, and omad by e pread o accong nrumen nd acuatng dece Hence, the arlebetween the history o the mathemazon economzaon nd "nnciation of the oia word,moing itte by itte tha o the piferon ovauemete, fm one regime o uerny to nothe:

Mahmacal evuon moves rm atmc o ageb

rom he he o umbers o that o uncons Moea

voluon moves rom meal Cs to paper money (a n

of abrc s of curency an rom e ae o

commoty wee an moun of money s ae or an

em o a sevc o e e of s mae vlus(wee fnacal secures are xchange fo eac oher

On he soc mae values wch ae reatonsps

between sums o money an obects are hemseves

s n reaon o each oher It s a secneree

aons oug e quoe vaue y reen

themselves ucons o eac oer sng o fallngeer olowg cean s

That i why he cn rite the fooing entencewhc eenl uarze whoe ok heendenc o mathema onmc ciene and thetendnc tophoi i, fa from being ireconilabe,mut thu ned nd each othr mut upot nour iew

We no a poitin to uetnd owTade tng aide l the al diion of ae

w no did t ubect of economi pycoo

sea o "poucon o ces let u say ooc

titn: by s we w unerstan e latons tha


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men eneain wh one anoher fm he sandpoin ohe popagaion of eir simila needs o he imilaraors o their simiar jdgmens bearng on he greater oresse i o hese abos nd of heir ocomes, or he smar ansacions .

Under the heading o economc opposiion I aim odesad the reaions eween men fom h stand

pon o the nnoiced schological coradconbeween heir needs and hei mens o ii, romhe sandpoin of te moe appan cnic beweenhei laos wa of compeiio srikes rade warsan o Te nie heo of pces of cosvawhich pespposes inernal sggles and he sacces

oe dees o ohe, s aso cneced o hsbec nde te eading of enomic adapaton, I wiltea the eaions ht me nean wi one oterom the sandpoi of he cooperaon of ei od invenions o he sasacon of a new need o he bete satisfacon of a old need, or of te cooperaion of ther

eos and their labrs n view of the prodcton faead invened iches mpicit o expici assciaonnatra o acial organizaion of wok.

Hng unergne ths tranormtoneconomcs no onger th "errac bck hce cke eer

If one agrees to atemp a ecasig o polical economollowig hs ew mode one wl see, I beleve wa tcan gan b eimnang what s ign to i b a bete

distibio o wa beongs o i and whch it aeadpossesses acqig wha it ad nlected to claimas is own I wil become boh more clearc andense bete dimed ad be fld And a esame me e fecd of te paie classicaon


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hat can be eqall applie o the heo o knowlegehe heo of ower rghts and tes and o eaeshetcs wll become apparent


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III

Economcs Wthout Provdence

rd is w d w h, rgi hsgens of a ok wih wil allow o gin aw gas oomi-a ra o ke o. Hll abov l hav o g u o ollowg joish r l b yng a n guidd by ynerlyng suur, ohng can caur indvanc y lw ouide oena t goesily o o aur By omig Drwiianguinly Drwii, ur in ds Trde hs, migh sy its ha, s in adwhic ad ied i l h All f Trd' ool

o l o tyic r u aga a o b radial rjui wnv i oms ocomi quns: ha xits ow, i mt i naur Sa, a amonizaon


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echs which we cud e s as hve prcice pics ar F Tre hugh here

is Pvidece; h is he he f he b he wrds which ehig cveges s a esu weus ae d hewise ha y rusig n heecics eciss whee he be righ-wig e-wing Hw c we is? Necessri hghrice nd iei.

The Return. o Poitics in Poitica Economy

We n he ge i s cees fr h he

egning d e ed he k Le egi wie ed, wih his decarai we can cll csrucivis, ava Ue.

Te eie polca econom o Adam Smi and hisschoo s based o e pemise o e sponaneosagreeme beween eoisms: hence e economcharmones o Basia Te qeson is o now i esepersonal neress acieve harmon on ei ow or ai-cia hs qeso cs he opposie wa om ha oSmh or anone wo emaced economc opposio in

s enire wch sowed s he hosil o eresswc s so qen and so o essea and adca Ioows ha e hamoizaion o ieress can onl beobaned hrogh ace and inveons are is aice

Le reeer is is wie in 902

weve yers efr he ccys f he Gre Wwhc will ve sned fr ceu ee yersefre he ssi Revui, rig in he idle e dee ewe iralis ad scilis, aissezair


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d ptectins dee sl curnt n the "elerlis d ngllzti Trdeecuse he eewe scl they ther o asuch s the ies etween scil turl sciecesc y sk e her f uestns, in es rtce d ivenn t is the tu the wdpliical the phse plcl ec vusly pssile tur s lng as peple eleved in e

exisece terl ifsrutur gvered yturl lws suggle n fr bilgy f fs

The disincion beween Poliics and Poiical Economhs desood is clear c as possible. One oosor the pah owards he songes colaboraio among

he desies of naion o o a pa in one sameendeavo he ohe ooks for he pah of heir greaesnd mos reCpcal sagewo ve dieren was ondersanding heir adapaion.

There s n re ebeddeess f eecnc n e cl (fr e g sn that thescil is t dn n is wn, ut a prncile fsscn d cntin) th there s a ptcalreal whic wld lt, lg rdr t dned,e epre f wht s ecc Thre is

: there is nly expg frc tewavgdesires bees, e f whch enets re r lessgey fr the techniues f cunicanfthe newspper t the tleraph, l the wy t the chtter f e de classess wel s f clcuatgdvcesr e prces n pricetgs the wy t he

Stck Exche d the clecn f sttcl dtPut ewise, eoomis ad poli al wi he saeobje, lw the se fbrc, feel ther wy rud e


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70

same netwr, depend he same ilueces n hesame cnnais.

Hw can we distinguish hem en? Only bye type f rganizati ey prmte: "claratfr plitiins; reciprcal se f ecnmiss We cindeed speak hrmnizatn cnerg em utis is n give y a law f evutn it i a prlemwhse slui depnd n ur wn ivets

nal in order for prodcio o bes adst iself oconsmpon is not ecessa or each o these termsto amonize as bes as possble wh isel ha is forthe dere pes o podcton o hamper each ohe lite possble o help each oter mch as possi-

be o coverge as mch possibe owards commonnaiona goas? Fo thee

The Science of Passionate Interests Latour

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