The Essential Writings of Thorstein Veblen

by Charles Camic (Editor), Geoffrey M. Hodgson (Editor)

The 38 selections in the volume include complete texts of all of Veblen’s major articles and book reviews from 1882 to 1914, plus key chapters from his books The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904) and The Instinct of Workmanship (1914). These writings present a wide range of Veblen’s most significant contributions, especially with respect to the philosophical and psychological foundations of economics, sociology, and other social sciences. A thorougly comprehensive volume, this is the only collection to present Veblen’s writings in chronological order, so that their development can be correctly understood. The volume is edited by a leading sociologist and a prominent economist, who provide extensive introductory essays which include item-by-item commentaries that place each selection in its intellectual-historical context and in relation to subsequent developments in economics. It makes for a valuable source of reference both for students and researchers alike. .

632 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Charles Camic is Lorraine H. Morton Professor of Sociology and a member of the Science in Human Culture Program at Northwestern University. An expert on the sociology of knowledge, he is coeditor of Social Knowledge in the Making.