Substantivism, culturalism and formalism in economic anthropology
Substantivism, culturalism and formalism in economic anthropology

Summary/Abstract: Polanyi's opinion is that there are two meanings of the term "economic", the substantial and formal, and they are heterogeneous. One is based on a deductive and logical mode of thinking, whereas the other is descriptive and built on experience. His ideas led to the birth of a two new school of thinking in economic anthropology, the so-called ‘substantivist’ and ‘formalist’ orientations. Formalists argue that economic rationality of maximizing individual can be found in all societies and in all forms of behavior, while substantivists maintain that economy is a type of human activity that is integrated, institutionalized and embedded in various social institutions, belonging to different cultures. The methodological dispute between the two schools was long-lasting and ended undecided, but it has the merit of having raised a number of other very interesting and perennial questions for other disciplines and inter-disciplinary areas of research.

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