Living Better Together: Social Relations and Economic Governance in the Work of Ostrom and Zelizer

Description

Elinor C. Ostrom, a Nobel prize winning political economist, made important contributions to common pool resources, economic governance, and polycentricity. Viviana A. Zelizer, a prominent economic sociologist, has done groundbreaking work on how culture shapes our economic lives. Together, the work of Ostrom and Zelizer spans the disciplines of economics, sociology, political science, and public policy by exploring the social relations and community-based organization of everyday life. Both scholars examine the norms, social connections, and cultural impacts of exchange and governance. This volume explores their contributions and builds off of their research programs to explore the social movements, community recovery, and war, and women’s issues across a variety of disciplines, including economics, political science, sociology, history, and archaeology. Inspired by Zelizer’s 2019 Ostrom Speaker Series lecture for the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, this volume explores the connections between the work of Elinor Ostrom and Viviana Zelizer. Beginning with a lead chapter by Zelizer where she reflects on the connections between her work and Ostrom’s oeuvre, the volume brings together scholars who tease out some of the important concepts and implications of Ostrom and Zelizer’s research. This volume furthers economic inquiry by ensuring that the critical examinations of these timely and important themes are made available to students and scholars. Contents List of Contributors List of Tables 1 Introduction: Connecting Elinor C. Ostrom and Viviana A. Zelizer 1.1 Connected Lives and Associational Beings 1.2 Structure of the Volume Notes Resources 2 Why and How Do Social Relations Matter for Economic Lives? Notes References 3 What Relational Work Brings to the Study of the Political Economy 3.1 From Separate Domains to Connected Systems Separate Domains Connected Systems Constitutive Relations 3.2 From Constitutive Relationships to Relational Work Gender, Race, and Political Economy 3.3 Political Economy as the Result of Intimate Relations 3.4 The Future of Political Economy References 4 “Circuits of Commons”: Exploring the Connections Between Economic Lives and the Commons 4.1 A Brief Account of the Commons: Different Types, Similar Methods 4.2 A Brief Account of the Circuits of Commerce: Diverse Empirics, Similar Methods 4.3 A Common Understanding: Exploring the Possibility of Shared Legacies of Ostrom and Zelizer 4.4 Conclusions Notes References 5 Testing Circuits of Commerce in the Distant Past: Archaeological Understandings of Social Relationships and Economic Lives 5.1 Circuits of Commerce and Archaeological Data Archaeology of the American Southern Plains, 1350–1700 AD Dimensions of Circuits of Commerce in the Archaeological Record Assessing Dimensions of Circuits of Commerce in the Archaeological Record 5.2 Untangling or Retangling Social and Economic Lives References 6 Bringing the Family Back In: Political Economy and the Family in Liberal Theory 6.1 Elinor Ostrom and Viviana A. Zelizer on the Family 6.2 Adam Smith and Alexis de Tocqueville’s Family Theory Adam Smith and the Family Alexis de Tocqueville and the Family 6.3 Accounting for the Nineteenth-Century Domestic Economy: Sophie de Grouchy and Harriet Martineau Sophie de Grouchy, Sympathy, and the Family Everyday Economics: Harriet Martineau on the Family 6.4 Flaws in the Family: Liberalism, Freedom, and Economic Organization Notes References 7 Polycentric Institutions of Intimacy 7.1 Circuits of Commerce and Polycentric Governance Rules and Shared Meaning Scope, Boundary, and Other Meta-Rules Negotiation and Co-production Circuits of Commerce and Polycentric Governance 7.2 Application to Gender, Marriage, and Family 7.3 Implications for Discriminatory Law and Gender Hierarchies 7.4 Conclusion Notes References 8 Beyond Relief: Understanding the Cuban Diaspora’s Remittance-Sending Behavior 8.1 Surveying Cuban Americans on Remittances 8.2 Challenges to Remittance-Sending in Cuba 8.3 Funding Families Through Transnational Ties 8.4 Remittances as Economic Circuits 8.5 Policy Dynamics 8.6 Conclusion Notes References 9 The Economic Circuits of Social Movements 9.1 A Review of the Social Movements Literature Theories of Social Movements Activists as Rational and Social Actors 9.2 The Circuits of Social Movements in the Brazilian Amazon Violence Against Social Movement Activists An Insider’s Perspective into the Economic Circuits of Social Movements 9.3 Analysis of the Economic Circuits of Social Movement Activists 9.4 Conclusion Note References 10 Captains’ Mail Circuits: Examining Social Relations in Letter Transfer, 1700–1774 10.1 The Colonial Mail System 10.2 The Social Breadth of Captains’ Postal Service 10.3 Conclusion Notes References 11 Institutional Diversity in Social Coordination Post-disaster 11.1 Understanding Collective Action Alternative Frameworks Disaster Recovery: New Understanding and Framework 11.2 Methods and Context Hurricane Katrina Superstorm Sandy 11.3 Collective Action After Disaster: Cases from Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy Broadmoor, New Orleans in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Bayswater, New York Following Superstorm Sandy 11.4 Conclusion Notes References 12 Wartime Governance in the Syrian Civil War 12.1 Institutional Arrangements and Collective Action 12.2 Social Relations and Governance 12.3 Wartime Institutions 12.4 Wartime Institutions in the Syrian Civil War 12.5 Conclusion Notes References 13 The Institutional Diversity of Online E-commerce Platforms in China 13.1 E-trust Through the Lens of Institutional Diversity E-trust Under Centralized Mechanisms: Reputation and Feedback E-trust Under Decentralized Mechanisms: Personal Ties and Repeated Transactions 13.2 Studying Two Types of E-governance Structures in China 13.3 Alibaba: Private but Centralized Legal Structure 13.4 WeChat: A Decentralized Acquaintance-Based E-commerce Network 13.5 Conclusion Appendix Notes References Index