Transformation, agency and the economy : the case for a grounded economics

"Producing, buying, selling, inventing, destroying, caring, imagining, failing - with their everyday practices, people bring about what we call 'the economy'. In order to both understand and transform these practices in the context of mounting socio-ecological challenges, respective knowledge on economic practices becomes crucial. Yet, when it comes to the respective scientific discipline - economics - such knowledge is limited due to a long-standing tradition of favouring abstraction and modelling over assessing real-world economic action. By contrast, this book outlines the contours of an economics grounded in real-world phenomena and experiences by outlining the foundations of a Grounded Economics. Drawing on the philosophical traditions of pragmatism, phenomenology and critical realism, and basic concepts from institutional thought and social scientific practice theories, the book provides a consistent framework to grasp the economy as an 'unfolding process'. By putting forward a strong account of economic agency, the framework allows to identify and differentiate between different pathways for a social transformation. The book addresses readers from all branches of the social sciences seeking a new vision for economic research particularly within political economy, heterodox economics, science studies and economic sociology."