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Series:   Elements in Austrian Economics

Cultural Considerations within Austrian Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2020

Virgil Storr  and
Arielle John
Virgil Storr
Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia
Arielle John
Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia

Summary

Increasingly, economists realize that a deeper understanding of culture can improve their insights into the most important questions in economics. The Austrian school of political economy, which has always taken economics to be a science of meaning, and therefore, a science of culture, offers a unique approach to the study of culture in economic life. We consider three important differences between these Austrian and non-Austrian approaches: the Austrian focus on culture as meaning rather than culture as norms, beliefs, or attitudes; the Austrian emphasis on culture as an interpretative lens rather than as a tool or form of capital; and the Austrian insistence that cultural analysis be a qualitative exercise rather than a quantitative one. We also examine Geertz's description of culture, Gadamer's approach to hermeneutics, and Weber's interpretative sociology, demonstrating their connections to the Austrian approach and offering examples of what Austrian cultural economics can look like.
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Keywords

culture and economicsinstitutionsentrepreneurshipMax Weberinterpretive
Type
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Series: Elements in Austrian Economics
Online ISBN: 9781108761505
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 09 July 2020

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Cultural Considerations within Austrian Economics
  • Virgil Storr, George Mason University, Virginia, Arielle John, George Mason University, Virginia
  • Online ISBN: 9781108761505
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Cultural Considerations within Austrian Economics
  • Virgil Storr, George Mason University, Virginia, Arielle John, George Mason University, Virginia
  • Online ISBN: 9781108761505
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Cultural Considerations within Austrian Economics
  • Virgil Storr, George Mason University, Virginia, Arielle John, George Mason University, Virginia
  • Online ISBN: 9781108761505
Available formats
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