>Can someone please comment on whether or not the following is >correct?
>The meaning of the expression "political economy", as it is used
>today, is not identical with the meaning of the expression "political
>economy", as it was used by Marx and his contemporaries.
Gert, _political economy_ is relatively a new sub-field in social
sciences, particularly in political science and sociology. I doubt that
it has a strong foundation in economics departments, with the exception
of few radical places may be. Although originally the concept was
invented by Marx and his contemporaries, the definition of political
economy as a "social science dealing with the interrelationship of
political and economic processes" (_Webster's Third New International
Dictionary_) is a new contribution, a product of 60s, brought to our
attention by the proliferation of radical perspectives in social
sciences (world system, underdevelopment, imperialism theories, etc..).
Previously, in the 50s, specialists in the field, particularly
mainstream political scientists, looked at the role of the government
and the state only. They generally emphasized pure politics (let's say
how a bill becomes a law) and overlooked economic considerations. Their
use of political system detracted attention from class society, and was
limited to "legal and institutional meanings" (Ronald Chilcote, p.342)
Economists, on the hand, always found political science less scientific,
and they continue to do so, especially the ones who think that other
social sciences need a strong neo-classical foundation and objectivity. In
the 60s, when radical perspectives began to address the questions of
imperialism and dependency in international politics and emphasized the
politics behind economics, political economy was able to become a coherent
body of knowledge and integrated to the cirriculum of political science
departments. This development also anticipated the growth of international
political economy as a new subfield within political economy.
>In today's usage, "political economy" refers to a treatment of
>economic problems with a strong emphasis on the political side (the
>politics of economics), as opposed to a de-politicized ("economistic")
>view of economics.
True. You may like to consider for this distinction Stephen Gill's
book on _Gramsci and Historical Materialism_,or Jeffrey Frieden's edited
volume_International Political Economy: Perspectives on Global Power and
Wealth_. Mind you that economists and other social scientists approach
political economy slightly differently. Economists generally stress the
economic ramifications of political economy (let's say market
inefficiency, supply and demand, price determinations, etc...).
Sometimes this approach develops a tendency towards a "depoliticized",
reified, economistic view of economics, which Marx wholeheartedly
criticized, and then later Gramsci rediscovered by developing a
_politically articulated historical materialism_. Considerably
differently from economists, sociologists, for example, stresss more
vehemently the societal, historical and idelological ramifications of
political economy (class, gender, race issues). I should admit that the
conteporary birth of interest in political economy is more of an effort
by sociologists than of efforsts by other scientists. This effort is
disseminating to other fields of social sciences too.
Origins and evoluton of political economy, however, dates back to much
earlier times. For example, Mandel dated the birth of political
economy " to the development of society based on commodity production".
On the other hand Marx's capital was a "Critique of Political Economy"
and emphasized commodities, surplus value, wages, accumulation of
capital. I generally disagree with the views that reduce Marx to Smith
and other classical economists. These views tend to see Marx the
Economist only, not Marx the revolutionary. Regardingly, Marx criticized
bourgeois economists for basing economics upon illusions of free
competition in which individuals "seemed" to be liberated. Marx reminded
us the fact that this notion of competitive market capitalism and
individual freedom was an historical product, not a natural state of
affairs, and would die one day as it was born.
>At Marx's time the discipline of economics had not been ravaged by
>scientism yet. At his time "political economy" meant the same as
>"public economy" or "Staatswirtschaft" or macroeconomics
>(macroeconomy), as opposed to business administration,
>business management or microeconomics.
Historically speaking, what you are saying makes sense. Remember that at
Marx's time, in the German nation state, the concept of political
economy was used to refer to a field of government concerned with
directing policies towards distribution of resources, and national
wealth. This is where the concept of "public economy" comes from.
Although the use of political economy was related to economics, it was
still primarily concerned with the state. Marx criticizes this state
idealism in his discussion of Hegel's philosophy of right and Gotha
program.
>The term "macroeconomics" first appeared in the 1930's (I believe), >so
that at Marx's time, anyone who wanted to say "macroeconomics" >or
"macroeconomy" said "political economy" (=economy of the polis). >The
fact that Marx's view of economics has strong political and
>social-psychological components is not due to the "political" in
>"political economy", but was rather common in the study of >economics
of the 18th and 19th centuries (see also, Adam Smith, >Hegel, etc.).
In my view, Adam Smith did not strongly emphasize the "political in
political economy". The notion that economics is political (power,
exploitation, domination) was uniquely Marx's contribution (just like
feminist slogan of "private is political")
>Is this interpretation correct?
we seem to agree on the basics.
regards,
--
Mine Aysen Doyran
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222
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