Economic Sociology: A Systematic Inquiry

322 Pages·2010·1.23 MB·English

by  Alejandro Portes

Economic Sociology
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Economic Sociology
a systematic inquiry
Alejandro Portes
p r i n c e t o n u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s
p r i n c e t o n a n d o x f o r d
Copyright © 2010 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Portes, Alejandro, 1944–
Economic sociology : a systematic inquiry / Alejandro Portes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-14222-7 (cl. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-691-14223-4
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Economics—Sociological aspects. I. Title.
HM548.P67 2010
306.3—dc22 2009043506
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon
Printed on acid-free paper. ¥
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of my father
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables ix
Preface xi
Chapter One
Economic Sociology: Past Achievements and Present Challenges 1
Chapter Two
The Assumptions That Ground the Field 10
Chapter Three
Social Capital 27
Chapter Four
The Concept of Institutions 48
Chapter Five
The Concept of Social Class 71
Chapter Six
Social Class (Continued) 101
Chapter Seven
The Informal Economy 130
Chapter Eight
Ethnic Enclaves and Middleman Minorities 162
Chapter Nine
Transnational Communities 195
Chapter Ten
Markets, Models, and Regulation 220
Notes 237
Bibliography 261
Index 291
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Figures and Tables
Figures
2.1. Linear Purposive Action and Alternative Behavioral Patterns 20
3.1. Social Capital and Unexpected Consequences in Economic
Organizations 27
3.2. Social Capital and Working-Class Mobilization 28
3.3. Sources and Effects of Social Capital 34
3.4. Types of Relationships in Dense vs. Dispersed Communities 46
4.1. Elements of Social Life 54
4.2. Participatory Democracy and Institutional Monocropping 58
4.3. The Divestiture of Parastate Corporations in Mexico 63
4.4. Determinants of Social Change 65
4.5. Topical Emphases on Economy and Society 69
6.1. Argentina: Total Crime Rates (per 100,000 inhabitants) 123
6.2. Property Crime in Chile, 1977–2000 124
6.3. Victimization Rates by Country 125
7.1. Types of Economic Activities and Their Interrelationships 135
7.2. The Paradox of State Control: Regulation and the Infor-
mal Economy 142
7.3. State Regulatory Power and the Extent of Regulation 147
8.1. Characteristics of Immigrant Economic Formations 185
Tables
5.1. Social Phenomena from Different Analytic Perspectives 77
5.2. A Typology of the American Class Structure 90–91
5.3. Immigration and the Class Structure 97
6.1. The Latin American Class Structure 104–5
6.2. The Class Structure of Selected Latin American
Countries, 2000 110
6.3. Average Incomes by Social Class in Eight Latin American
Nations, 1997 114
6.4. Evolution of Average Occupational Incomes by Social
Classes in Latin America 116–18
6.5. Income Growth and Distribution in Nine Latin American
Countries during the 1990s 120
6.6. Homicide Rates per 100,000 Inhabitants: Selected Countries 123
7.1. State Types According to Regulatory Intent and Capacity 144