Cultural Considerations within Austrian Economics

Virgil Storr; Arielle John

doi:10.1017/9781108761505

Series: Elements in Austrian Economics

Cultural Considerations within Austrian Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 June 2020

Virgil Storr and

Arielle John

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Virgil Storr: Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia
Arielle John: Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia

Summary

Increasingly, economists realize that a deeper understanding of culture can improve their insights into the most important questions in economics. The Austrian school of political economy, which has always taken economics to be a science of meaning, and therefore, a science of culture, offers a unique approach to the study of culture in economic life. We consider three important differences between these Austrian and non-Austrian approaches: the Austrian focus on culture as meaning rather than culture as norms, beliefs, or attitudes; the Austrian emphasis on culture as an interpretative lens rather than as a tool or form of capital; and the Austrian insistence that cultural analysis be a qualitative exercise rather than a quantitative one. We also examine Geertz's description of culture, Gadamer's approach to hermeneutics, and Weber's interpretative sociology, demonstrating their connections to the Austrian approach and offering examples of what Austrian cultural economics can look like.

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culture and economics institutions entrepreneurship Max Weber interpretive

Type: Element
Information: Series: Elements in Austrian Economics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108761505 [Opens in a new window]

Online ISBN: 9781108761505

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication: 09 July 2020

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