I finally read Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation. A very - TopicsExpress

I finally read Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation. A very instructive book, in which he argues that the utopian idea of a free market economy rather than industrialism itself is what has created a difficult landscape in tha last century. Although written in 1944, he is aware of the potential environmental damage flowing from a market set of values that has no checks on continuing exploitation. This is the book that lies apparently behind much of Ivan Illichs inspiration, as well as Murray Bookchins. ~ Gary Snyder, Feb. 1984 Karl Polanyi en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Polanyi His theories eventually became the foundation for the economic democracy movement. The Great Transformation (book) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Transformation_%28book%29 Polanyi contends that the modern market economy and the modern nation-state should be understood not as discrete elements but as the single human invention he calls the Market Society.