The list is open to anyone interested in socio-economics (see Overview at
the end of this message) as a forum for discussion. We hope the list will
be a forum for discussion on research in progress, responses to papers in
print journals, exchanges of bibliographies, course syllabi, subject
handouts, job information, ideas, theories, theses, book reviews,
abstracts, announcements (of conferences, new books, new journals, and new
reports) and inquiries about socio-economics.
We also hope the list will be a forum for discussion on new or alternative
theoretical approaches to socio-economics. Controversial views, theories
and opinions anywhere in the field are welcome, and we hope this list will
provide an open forum for debate and exchange of ideas from any and all
points of view.
How to Subscribe
If you want to add your name to the list, send the following e-mail
message to listserv@unmvma.unm.edu
subscribe soc-econ your name
[Replace 'your name' with your own first name and last name. Leave the
subject line blank.]
To send a message to participants on the list, send the message with an
informative subject line to:
If you have any questions about the soc-econ list please contact the list
owners, Mitchell Langbert or the SASE office via e-mail
(Langberm@admin1.dowling.edu or SASE@bootes.unm.edu).
***************************************************************************
Overview of SASE and Socio-economics
Founded in 1989, the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE),
is an international, interdisciplinary organization with approximately
2,000 members in more than 40 countries. The academic disciplines
represented in SASE include economics, sociology, political science,
psychology, anthropology, philosophy, history, law, and management. In
addition, the membership of SASE includes business people and policy
makers working in governmental and international organizations.
The purpose of SASE is three-fold:
o to advance an encompassing understanding of economic behavior, and
more generally, choice behavior, across a broad range of academic
disciplines;
o to support the scientific study, scholarship, intellectual
exploration and public policy implications of the study of
economic (or choice) behavior within the encompassing psychological,
societal, institutional, historical, philosophical, and ethical
contexts; and
o to balance inductive and deductive approaches, preserving the
empirical, reality-testing quality of study
Socio-economics assumes that economics is embedded in a self-contained
system. Socio-economics regards competition as a subsystem embedded
within a societal context that contains values, power relations and social
networks. The societal context both enables and restrains competition.
That is, socio-economics assumes that interests are not necessarily or
automatically complementary and harmonious; societal sources of order are
necessary for markets to function efficiently.
Socio-economics further assumes that individual choices are shaped by
values, emotions, social bonds and judgements--rather than by a precise
calculation of self-interest. There is no prior assumption that people
act rationally, or that they pursue only or largely self-interest or
pleasure.
Methodologically, socio-economics regards inductive studies as coequal in
standing with deductive ones. For example, a study of how firms actually
behave has the same basic merit as treating the firm as an analytic
concept in a mathematical model. Inductive inputs and deductive
derivations are assumed to correct, and thus balance, one another. Socio-
economics is both a positive and a normative science. That is, it openly
recognizes its policy relevance and seeks to be self-aware of its
normative implications rather than maintain the mantle of an exclusively
positive science.
SASE has little interest in criticizing neoclassical economics per se, and
seeks to develop alternative approaches that are predictive, exemplary
and morally sound. Socio-economics does not entail a commitment to any
one ideological position, but is open to a range of positions that share
a view of treating economic behavior as involving the whole person and all
facets of society.
Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Business
Dowling College
Oakdale, New York 11769-1999
E-mail: Langberm@Admin1.Dowling.Edu
Telephone: 516-244-3416
Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Business
Dowling College
Oakdale, New York 11769-1999
E-mail: Langberm@Admin1.Dowling.Edu
Telephone: 516-244-3416