Limits of Economic Pragmatism

A recent poll highlights how Americans interested in “pop economics” have a limited view sociology and research contributions more broadly.

Freakonomics has published a survey amongst its readers (primarily economists) about which disciplines are not useful. They had a response of 1,200 voters, who said that political science and sociology were useless because they weren’t “pragmatic” and because they believed economics can usefully tackle similar terrain. This opinion poll is hardly scientific as it targets a niche community of economists.

Sudhir Venkatesh reports:

‘Many felt that sociology had become too insular and out of touch. Some argued that political science had become a sub-field of economics, and a good old-fashioned “M&A” could occur. Others said “market” discipline should be enforced: that is, save the departments that bring in the most cash to the university.  And many of you argued that the tradition of the disciplines was being ignored — e.g., sociology used to promote reform, but is no longer organised around such pragmatic tasks—and so it makes sense to close them for good.’

Economists are clearly favourable towards their own discipline and dismissive of others. This preference shows that lay economic audiences have limited exposure to applied sociology.

Sociology’s value is not in cornering markets, or solely bringing in money to universities, although it is clear that sociological departments must generate funding. Instead, sociology demonstrates the flaws in solely focusing on economic demands, without addressing the impact of social institutions, class relations, and other forms of stratification, which shape economic relations.