Confronting the science/value split: notes on feminist economics, institutionalism, pragmatism and process thought

What changes must economics undergo, if it is to become a moreadequate discipline, furthering of survival and flourishing?This essay argues that a break must be made from contemporarymainstream economics at the level of ontology (i.e., about thenature of reality). Drawing on neglected traditions of pragmatistphilosophy and process metaphysics, some elements of ‘old’institutionalist economics, and late-twentieth century naturalscience, it demonstrates that ample argument exists for a viewof the world as open, evolving and permeated with value. Furthermore,feminist scholarship offers an explanation for why such a worldviewfaces an uphill battle for acceptance.     

温州文化产业发展的反思——兼论政府在其中的作用

自十七大提出“文化强国”战略以来，全国各地掀起了发展文意产业的浪潮，具有“敢为人先”精神的温州同样竞相出台了各种促进文化产业发展的各项政策法规，以追求文化产业的经济性，这种对文化产业采取“实用主义”至上的态度，致使温州文化产业只是实现了空间上的聚集，而文化与产业的叠加显著不够，整个文化产业凸显着一种结构性缺陷。因此，应廓清对文化产业的认识，发挥政府政策在文化产业中提供基础性支撑的作用，同时通过政府制度和市场机制的创新，在政府、市场和社会的共同作用下，促进温州文化创意产业的协调和包容性增长。     

农地产权稳定性制度安排差异 ——基于能动的实用主义理论的新解释

研究目的:基于能动的实用主义理论解释村庄实施农地产权稳定性制度安排的差异。研究方法:归纳与演绎。研究结果:村庄农地产权稳定性制度安排是村集体面对中央政府制定的农地产权稳定性制度安排选择是否实施的结果。具体的,村民根据土地资源禀赋、经济发展水平、非农就业水平、农地流转市场发育程度和社会保障制度等环境因素形成各自农地产权稳定性制度安排实施意愿,村民不同的实施意愿在村民意愿的表达、村庄决策的民主性等村庄组织特性的作用下,形成村庄农地产权稳定性制度安排。研究结论:村庄农地产权稳定性制度安排是集体理性决策过程和政治过程共同作用的结果。     

The growing popularity of spiritual brands: What drives purchase intent?

In this study, we investigate the reason for the growing popularity of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) household products branded, promoted and sold in India by local spiritual leaders. We find that religiosity and normative community pressure are important purchase drivers for such products. Surprisingly, pragmatism in the presence of normative pressure also contributes to demand. We argue that self-identity theory provides a contextualized explanation in association with social identity theory to explain the influence of normative pressure on increased demand. The results of the study suggest that integrating social and self-identity theories provides a fuller insight into consumer behaviour in a complex social context.     

William James's psychological pragmatism: habit, belief and purposive human behaviour

Modern institutional economists look to pragmatism for: (1)an evolutionary philosophy of knowledge; and (2) a foundationof a theory of human nature. These two elements are combinedin William James, who was both a philosopher of pragmatism anda pioneering experimental psychologist. The author shows firsthow William James added psychological depth to the pragmatictradition as it was left by C. S. Peirce, and offers a reconciliationof their respective theories of truth. The second part of theessay explores James's views on psychology, concentrating onthe relation to pragmatic philosophy and the question of habit.The last section compares this to human nature as seen in modernevolutionary biology, in brain science and in the philosophyof rationality in the social sciences.     

A Pragmatist Defence of Classical Financial Accounting Research

One reason for the disdain in which classical financial accounting research has come to held by many in the scholarly community is its allegedly insufficiently scientific nature. While many have defended classical research or provided critiques of post‐classical paradigms, the motivation for this paper is different. It offers an epistemologically robust underpinning for the approaches and methods of classical financial accounting research that restores its claim to legitimacy as a rigorous, systematic and empirically grounded means of acquiring knowledge. This underpinning is derived from classical philosophical pragmatism and, principally, from the writings of John Dewey. The objective is to show that classical approaches are capable of yielding serviceable, theoretically based solutions to problems in accounting practice.     

Contingency as an entrepreneurial resource: How private obsession fulfills public need

Borrowing from Rorty (1989:37), this article portrays the entrepreneurial process as a mechanism through which “private obsession” fulfills “public need.” It begins with an argument that a deeper understanding of contingency can enhance management scholarship in general and entrepreneurship in particular. It continues with an examination of contingency and entrepreneurial opportunity and then uses six narratives to show how both personal and historical contingencies become resources in the entrepreneurial process. A depiction of possible alternative responses (counterfactuals) for each narrative illustrates how entrepreneurs tend to take a resourceful, rather than an adaptive or a heroic stance toward contingency. A discussion of American Pragmatism provides theoretical support for contingency's role in the entrepreneurial process. The paper concludes with a literature review and a look at how this view of entrepreneurial contingency illuminates the temporal context in management scholarship, among other implications for both research and practice.     

John Atkinson Hobson and the roots of John Dewey's economic thought

Abstract

American pragmatist John Dewey's economic thought has remained relatively unknown by both philosophers and economists. This article addresses this lack of interest and replies to criticism of pragmatism as the philosophy of ‘corporate liberalism’ by tracing one source of Dewey's economic thought to British New Liberal John Atkinson Hobson. General similarities are discussed first, followed by a presentation of Dewey's use of Hobson's theory of underconsumption during the Great Depression. It concludes by presenting Dewey's understanding of a liberalism that had truly become corporate.     

Applied Research in Accounting: A Commentary*

The mission of Canadian Accounting Perspectives is to provide a forum for “applied research” in accounting, but this key term is not defined. I identify three forms of applied research: (1) the use of existing knowledge to find solutions to current problems; (2) the use of positivist research methods to conduct critical tests between current alternative accounting methods and to identify empirical regularities that contribute to the development of technologies of practice; and (3) the use of disciplined inquiry and action research to develop mid‐range theory and generate empirical results that advance the interests or increase the capabilities of an identified community. This third form of applied research may provide the best approach to bridging the schism between academe and practice.     

A pragmatist approach to transdisciplinarity in sustainability research: From complex systems theory to reflexive science

The importance of questioning the values, background assumptions, and normative orientations shaping sustainability research has been increasingly acknowledged, particularly in the context of transdisciplinary research, which aims to integrate knowledge from various scientific and societal bodies of knowledge. Nonetheless, the concept of reflexivity underlying transdisciplinary research is not sufficiently clarified and, as a result, is hardly able to support the development of social learning and social experimentation processes needed to support sustainability transitions. In particular, the concept of reflexivity is often restricted to building social legitimacy for the results of a new kind of ‘complex systems science’, with little consideration of the role of non-scientific expertise and social innovators in the design of the research practice itself.The key hypothesis of the paper is that transdisciplinary research would benefit from adopting a pragmatist approach to reflexivity. Such an approach relates reflexivity to collective processes of problem framing and problem solving through joint experimentation and social learning that directly involve the scientific and extra-scientific expertise. To test this hypothesis, the paper proposes a framework for analysing the different types of reflexive processes that play role in transdisciplinary research. The main conclusion of the analysis is the need to combine conventional consensus-oriented deliberative approaches to reflexivity with more open-ended, action-oriented transformative approaches.