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Ignorance, denial, internalisation and transcendence: A post-structural perspective on Polanyi’s double movement

Ignorance, denial, internalisation and transcendence: A post-structural perspective on Polanyi’s double movement
Ignorance, denial, internalisation and transcendence: A post-structural perspective on Polanyi’s double movement
In this article, I suggest what an engagement between post-structuralism and the work of Karl Polanyi might look like. I do this by presenting a reading of his concept of ‘double movement’ as a form of problematisation through binary opposition. I suggest that the central opposition that the double movement depicts – between economy and society as reflected in processes of marketisation and social protection – presents itself in such a way that the problems emanating from the opposition can only be solved through its transcendence. On one hand, the terms of transcendence are limited by the terms of the opposition. On the other hand, since transcendence is never reached, the double movement problematisation stabilises the existence of a lacuna between the lived experience of market society and the discursive field of that market society. As such, the form of the problematisation places a double-limit upon the way ‘solutions’ can be presented. I present this reading in relation to two instances of double movement discussed by Polanyi in his book, The Great Transformation. I then move to apply the argument to invocations of the economy-society opposition in contemporary political economic discourse, where it remains as ubiquitous as ever.
0260-2105
Holmes, Christopher
8e1a791b-0802-4b43-885a-f7511deb8389
Holmes, Christopher
8e1a791b-0802-4b43-885a-f7511deb8389

Holmes, Christopher (2012) Ignorance, denial, internalisation and transcendence: A post-structural perspective on Polanyi’s double movement. Review of International Studies.

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this article, I suggest what an engagement between post-structuralism and the work of Karl Polanyi might look like. I do this by presenting a reading of his concept of ‘double movement’ as a form of problematisation through binary opposition. I suggest that the central opposition that the double movement depicts – between economy and society as reflected in processes of marketisation and social protection – presents itself in such a way that the problems emanating from the opposition can only be solved through its transcendence. On one hand, the terms of transcendence are limited by the terms of the opposition. On the other hand, since transcendence is never reached, the double movement problematisation stabilises the existence of a lacuna between the lived experience of market society and the discursive field of that market society. As such, the form of the problematisation places a double-limit upon the way ‘solutions’ can be presented. I present this reading in relation to two instances of double movement discussed by Polanyi in his book, The Great Transformation. I then move to apply the argument to invocations of the economy-society opposition in contemporary political economic discourse, where it remains as ubiquitous as ever.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 19 June 2012
Published date: 2012
Organisations: Politics & International Relations

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 340360
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/340360
ISSN: 0260-2105
PURE UUID: e5669529-caea-49c3-868b-d7bf3b3a7b16

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Date deposited: 19 Jun 2012 15:17
Last modified: 22 Jul 2022 18:08

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Author: Christopher Holmes

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