Karl Polanyi

'''Karl Paul Polanyi'''(''Károly Polányi'' {{IPA-hu|ˈkaːɾoj ˈpolaːɳi}}; born October 25, 1886, [[Vienna]], [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] — April 23, 1964, [[Pickering, Ontario]])<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2003) vol 9. p.554</ref> was a [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[philosopher]], [[political economist]] and [[economic historian]] known for his opposition to traditional [[Economics|economic]] thought and his book ''[[The Great Transformation (book)|The Great Transformation]]''. Polanyi is remembered today as the originator of [[substantivism]], a cultural approach to economics, which emphasized the way economies are embedded in society and culture. This view ran counter to mainstream [[economics]] but was popular in [[anthropology]], economic history, [[economic sociology]] and [[political science]]. Polanyi's approach to the ancient economies has been applied to a variety of cases, such as Pre-Columbian America and ancient Mesopotamia, although its utility to the study of ancient societies in general has been questioned.<ref>For example, Morris Silver, "Redistribution and Markets in the Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: Updating Polanyi", [[Antiguo Oriente]] 5 (2007): 89-112.</ref> Polyani's ''The Great Transformation'' became a model for historical sociology. His theories eventually became the foundation for the [[economic democracy]] movement. His daughter [[Kari Polanyi-Levitt]] is Emerita Professor of Economics at McGill University, Montreal. == Early life == {{See also|Polányi}} Polanyi was born into a Jewish family. His younger brother was chemist and philosopher [[Michael Polanyi]], and was born in [[Vienna]], at the time the capital of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]]. The son of a prominent member of the [[bourgeoisie]] involved in railroads, father [[Mihály Polányi|Mihály ''(til 1904 Pollacsek)'' von Polányi]] and mother [[Cecília Wohl]], Polanyi was well educated despite the ups and downs of his father's fortune, and he immersed himself in [[Budapest]]'s active intellectual and artistic scene. Polanyi founded the radical and influential [[Club Galilei]] while at the [[University of Budapest]], a club which would have far reaching effects on Hungarian intellectual thought. During this time, he was actively engaged with other notable thinkers, such as [[György Lukács]], [[Oszkár Jászi]], and [[Karl Mannheim]]. Polanyi earned his [[Ph.D.]] in [[Philosophy]] in 1908 and graduated in [[Law]] in 1912. In 1914 he helped found the [[Hungarian Radical Party]] and served as its secretary. Polanyi was a [[cavalry]] officer in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] in [[World War I]], but was removed from service due to disabilities after arriving at the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Russian Front]]. After the war, he returned to Budapest where he became politically active once again. Polanyi supported the Republican government of [[Mihály Károlyi]] and its [[Social Democratic Party (Hungary)|Social Democratic]] regime. The republic was short-lived, however, and when [[Béla Kun]] toppled the Karolyi government to create the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] Polanyi was forced to flee to Vienna. From 1924 to 1933 he worked there as a journalist writing economic and political commentary for (among others) the prestigious ''Der Oesterreichische Volkswirt'' ('The Austrian Economist'). It was at this time that he first began criticizing the [[Austrian School]] of economists, who he felt created abstract models which lost sight of the organic, interrelated reality of economic processes. Polanyi himself was attracted to [[Fabianism]] and the works of [[G. D. H. Cole]]. It was also during this period that Polanyi grew interested in [[Christian Socialism]]. == United States and Canada == He fled [[Austria]] in 1933 as the short-lived [[First Austrian Republic|Austrian Republic]] began to collapse and [[Austrofascism|fascist influence]] began to grow. He moved to [[London]], where he earned a living working as a journalist and tutor and took up a position as a lecturer for the [[Workers' Educational Association]]. Polanyi also conducted the bulk of his research for what would later become ''[[The Great Transformation (book)|The Great Transformation]]''. However, he would not start writing this work until 1940, when he moved to [[Vermont]] to take up a position at [[Bennington College]]. The book was published in 1944 to great acclaim. In it, Polanyi described the [[enclosure]] process in [[England]] and the creation of the contemporary economic system at the beginning of the 19th century. After the war Polanyi received a teaching position at [[Columbia University]] (1947-1953). However, his wife's ([[Ilona Duczynska]]) background as a former [[Communism|communist]] made gaining an entrance visa in the [[United States]] impossible. As a result they moved to [[Canada]], and Polanyi commuted to New York City. In the early 1950s Polanyi received a large grant from the [[Ford Foundation]] to study the economic systems of ancient empires. Having described the emergence of the modern economic system, Polanyi now sought to understand how "the economy" emerged as a distinct sphere in the distant past. His seminar at Columbia drew several famous scholars and influenced a generation of teachers, resulting in the 1957 volume ''Trade and Market in the Early Empires''. Polanyi continued to write in his later years and established a new journal entitled ''Coexistence''. In [[Canada]] he resided in [[Pickering, Ontario|Pickering]], [[Ontario]], where he died in 1964. == Works == * ''[[The Great Transformation (book)|The Great Transformation]]'' (1944) * ''Trade and Markets in the Early Empires'' (1957, edited and with contributions by others) * ''[[Dahomey and the Slave Trade]]'' (1966) * ''Primitive, Archaic, and Modern Economics: Essays of Karl Polanyi'' (1968, collected essays and selections from his work). * ''The Livelihood of Man (Studies in social discontinuity)(Academic Pr; New Ed edition (November 1977) == Notes == <references/> == Bibliography == * {{Citation|title = Humanity, Society and Commitment: On Karl Polanyi|editor-last = McRobbie|editor-first = Kenneth|publisher = Black Rose Books Ltd.|year = 1994|isbn = 1895431840 }} * {{Citation|title = Karl Polanyi in Vienna: The Contemporary Significance of The Great Transformation|editor-last = McRobbie|editor-first = Kenneth|editor2-last = Polanyi-Levitt|editor2-first = Kari|publisher = Black Rose Books Ltd.|year = 2000|isbn = ISBN 1551641429 }} * {{Citation|title = The Legacy of Karl Polanyi: Market, State, and Society at the End of the Twentieth Century|last = Mendell|first = Marguerite|last2 = Salée|first2 = Daniel|publisher = St. Martins Press|year = 1991|isbn = 0312047835 }} * {{Citation|title = The Life and Work of Karl Polanyi: A Celebration|editor-last = Polanyi-Levitt|editor-first = Kari|publisher = Black Rose Books Ltd.|year = 1990|isbn = 0921689802 }} * {{Citation|title = The Economic Thought of Karl Polanyi: Lives and Livelihood|last = Stanfield|first = J. Ron|publisher = Macmillan|year = 1986|isbn = 0333396294 }} * {{Citation|title = Karl Polanyi: The Limits of the Market|last = Dale|first = Gareth|publisher = Polity|year = 2010|isbn = 9780745640723 }} == External links == * [http://artsandscience.concordia.ca/polanyi/about/ The Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy] - The Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy at Concordia University web site. * [http://eh.net/node/2743 Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (1944) Review Essay by Anne Mayhew, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tennessee] * [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/polanyi.htm Profile on Karl Polanyi] - On the History of Economic Thought Website * [http://www.karipolanyilevitt.com/bio.shtm Kari Polanyi Levitt] {{See also|Polányi}} {{Persondata | NAME = Polanyi, Karl | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1886 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = 1964 | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Polanyi, Karl}} [[Category:Polányi family|Karl]] [[Category:Economic historians]] [[Category:Hungarian philosophers]] [[Category:Hungarian anthropologists]] [[Category:Hungarian economists]] [[Category:Hungarian historians]] [[Category:Hungarian socialists]] [[Category:Hungarian nobility]] [[Category:Hungarian Jews]] [[Category:Austro-Hungarian Jews]] [[Category:Hungarian expatriates in Austria]] [[Category:People from Vienna]] [[Category:People from Pickering, Ontario]] [[Category:1886 births]] [[Category:1964 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Kerepesi Cemetery]] [[co:Károly Polányi]] [[de:Karl Polanyi]] [[es:Karl Polanyi]] [[eo:Karl Polányi]] [[fr:Karl Polanyi]] [[ko:칼 폴라니]] [[it:Karl Polanyi]] [[hu:Polányi Károly]] [[nl:Karl Polanyi]] [[ja:カール・ポランニー]] [[no:Karl Polanyi]] [[pms:Karl Polanyi]] [[pl:Karl Polanyi]] [[pt:Karl Polanyi]] [[ru:Поланьи, Карл]] [[sk:Karl Polanyi]] [[fi:Karl Polanyi]] [[sv:Karl Polanyi]] [[tr:Karl Polanyi]]