Austrian Economics and Economic Sociology : Past Relations and Future Possibilities for a Socio-Economic Perspective

The diversity of approaches within modern economics is often overlooked by economic sociology focusing on the neoclassical orthodoxy. At the time of the dispute over methods there had been mutual influences between Max Weber and the Austrian version of neoclassical theory, but in the later approaches of economic sociology the special features of Austrian economics, which has developed from being one of the neoclassical schools into a strand of thought with unique characteristics, have not been recognized. Modern Austrian economics emphasizes time, uncertainty, knowledge and dynamic market processes, which are themes of importance for economic sociology. Moreover, the conceptions of individual action and social order in Austrian economics can be of relevance for a socio-economic perspective with regard to overcoming the division between social and economic factors