Institutions and Society – Towards a Critical Theory of (Economic) Institutions

The project  conceives of economic categories as economic institutions. It aims to explore the social constitution of (economic) institutions – what they are, what they hold, how they are formed and transformed, become manifest and obsolete, or simply exist or inexist.     

The central tenets will be drawn from the economic sociology of Thorstein Veblen along with other major figures in the Institutionalist tradition in the history of economic thought. It introduces a critical reinterpretation of economic categories by drawing on the philosophical thought of Alain Badiou and Cornelius Castoriadis. The ultimate aim of the study is to present a Frankfurt School inspired critique of the economic institutions as real abstractions of definite forms of social relations.

The project will present a novel reading of Thorstein Veblenʼs theory of institutions and progresses towards a Frankfurt-School-inspired critical theory of (economic) institutions. It engages the mathematical turns of Alain Badiou and Cornelius Castoriadis and draws on mathematical meta-structures, such as ZFC set theory and category theory to accommodate and model different underlying logics – Veblenʼs evolutionary methodology opposed to materialist dialectics of Marx, Badiou, Castoriadis, the Frankfurt School, etc. It retraces Marx’s positing of the real-general as real abstraction proposed by Alfred Sohn-Rethel and Theodor W. Adorno, conceptualizing the particular object-moment emerging in market commodity exchange.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility contributes EUR 178,000, the total value of the investment. The project started in February 2024 and should be finalised by January 2026.

Additional Links:

• https://fi2.zrc-sazu.si/sl/programi-in-projekti/institucije-in-druzba-h-kriticni-teoriji-ekonomskih-institucij