SOCIOL 173 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Ingroups And Outgroups, Embeddedness
Document Summary
Neoclassical econ. assumption: social relationships as hindrance to competition; competitive markets produce the best outcomes. Economic view of institutional arrangements: efficient solutions to economic problems. Granovetter"s main points - based on various empirical research findings: Economic life is embedded in social relationships even in modern societies in that the social context and social networks that people have matter for behavior and economic outcomes. Self-interest does not guarantee peaceful ways of pursuing it, hence: question of social order trust=central question. Social relations are mainly responsible for producing trust. Real people in business have real social ties to others (as friends, colleagues, benefactors, allies, etc. , and have histories, sympathies, empathies, entanglements, future plans, etc. ) We can understand all kinds of economic situations if we take networks of social relations seriously (s. venkatesh"s ethnographic study in a poor neighborhood of. Employing local residents, often part time, off the books various benefits economically and socially. Economic model: market exchange entails impersonal transactions among strangers.
