The Market as an Object of Sociological Investigation

Sociologists often complain that economists produce distorted pictures of the economy and society, and in particular that they exaggerate the role of market relations. The representatives of sociology justly point out that, in addition to the market, other economic structures affect affairs of state and of households. Indeed, the market itself is presented by traditional economists in an excessively abstract manner or one derived from obsolete historical models. However, a sociologist can pose the question differently. Rather than reproaching economists and engaging in merciless criticism of market models, would it not be better for sociology to attempt to work out its own, specifically sociological understanding of what the market is? Especially as one paradox of economic theory is precisely the absence of a substantive theory of the market [1, pp. 342-44]. We might add that in Western economic sociology a new branch, market sociology, is gaining momentum. A number of directions are under development: the sociology of industrial markets [2], the sociology of the labor market [3], the sociology of international markets [4], and so on. This article presents an approach offered by economic sociology to the study of markets in Russia, some of the postulates of which are discussed in [5]. First, let us examine the empirical aspects of the problem.¹