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Handbook of Economic Sociology for the 21st Century pp 79–94Cite as

Transcending History’s Heavy Hand: The Future in Economic Action

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Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss sociological analyses of expectations in the economy. Recognition of the social constitution of expectations advances the understanding of economic action under conditions of uncertainty and helps to explain key features of modern capitalist societies. The range of applications of the analytical perspective is illustrated by closer examination of three core spheres of capitalist societies: consumption, investment, and innovation. To provide an idea of crucial challenges of the approach, three research questions for the sociological analysis of expectations are presented.

Authors in alphabetical order. For comments on earlier drafts we thank Alexandra Hees, Marcin Serafin, and Lisa Suckert.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For reasons of space, we are highly selective in our presentation of spheres of economic activity. The spheres that would merit discussion, but which were left out, include the expectation-focused investigation of money, of labor and the production process, of the state and the political system, and of organizations.

  2. 2.

    A major concern that is omitted from this chapter is the question of methodology, a discussion of which can be found in a standalone paper (Beckert and Suckert 2020, see also the brief discussion below in the conclusion).

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  1. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Jens Beckert & Timur Ergen

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    Andrea Maurer

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Beckert, J., Ergen, T. (2021). Transcending History’s Heavy Hand: The Future in Economic Action. In: Maurer, A. (eds) Handbook of Economic Sociology for the 21st Century. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61619-9_6

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