This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1065912907306469v1 61/1/56    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Swanson, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Economic Common Sense and the Depoliticization of the Economic

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo

This article theorizes and begins to explore the extent to which academic and nonacademic discourses contribute to the reproduction and legitimacy of the economic status quo. The author argues that economic practices in the United States are often depoliticized in at least two different ways: They are naturalized or essentialized conceptually, and political control over them is limited. Drawing on antiessentialist Marxian economic theory, Gramsci's theory of hegemony, and poststructuralist theory, the author constructs a framework for conceptualizing economic practices in a more politicized manner. The author also provides some specific examples of depoliticized discourses and a few examples of more politicized discourses.

Key Words: political economy • discourse • capitalism • democracy • Gramsci

This version was published on March 1, 2008

Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 1, 56-67 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1065912907306469


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?