The Relational Approach to Political Economy

In: Rethinking marxism: RM ; a journal of economics, culture, and society, Band 6, Heft 4, S. 104-116

Abstract

Three approaches to political economy -- neoclassical economics, official Marxism, & critical Marxism -- are critically assessed, concentrating on their differences with respect to the opposition between psychological & economic reductionism & between individualist & collectivist methods. A relational approach to political economy that views social causation as a constantly interacting set of diverse & irreducible processes is developed, & it is argued that critical Marxists would be better served by treating the relational approach as a methodological guide to political economy. The relational approach is illustrated via a case study of the rise & fall of the USSR. 33 References. W. Howard