ABSTRACT
The individualistic methodology that largely dominates economic thought is incapable of thinking of social facts as anything other than the aggregation of individual facts. In so doing, it ignores the powerful sui generis forces that emanate from the social sphere itself and that shape individual behaviour and subjectivity. Moral, aesthetic, and religious values are the paradigmatic illustration of this. But economic value is also a force of this nature. It cannot be identified with a substance, be it utility or labour. This new perspective provides the economist with new tools for thinking about what a monetary community is. In so doing, it lays the foundations for a renewed dialogue with the social sciences in general and sociology in particular.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank the two anonymous referees for their comments.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Some economists prefer the term ‘empirical turn’ or ‘applied turn’.
7 On this important theoretical point, I recommend the very enlightening analyses of Lordon (Citation2021, pp. 37–41).
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