ABSTRACT OF PAPER
Title: Controversies in Traditions in Thought: The Case of Scottish Political Economy
Author: Demals Thierry, Hyard Alexandra
Political economy is notably identified from a variety of national traditions. These traditions try to retain national characteristics to warrant their investigation. It is the case of the Scottish tradition in political economy. The expression “Scottish political economy” is a fairly recent coinage. Indeed, it has appeared significantly from the second half of the twentieth century. Most economists, who have used this expression, have largely associated it to the Scottish philosophy of eighteenth century in order to offer an alternative to the contemporary orthodox economics. Yet, in nineteenth century, the idea of a Scottish school in political economy could not exist because of the context of rivalry between various national - and not regional - economic traditions (British political economy, French political economy...) and since Smith’s thinking had been included in British political economy. Paradoxically, the idea of a Scottish tradition in thought was launched by philosophers, not by economists, at the end of the eighteenth century, notably by the Genevan Pierre Prevost. The purpose of the paper is to trace the history of the expression “Scottish political economy” and to understand the strategies that underlie the use of this expression over time.
Registred web users only can download this paper - Go back
Please note that files available for download have not been checked for viruses. These files have been submitted by authors of the conference to this web site. Conference organisers can't accept any responsibility for damages caused to users by downloading such files.