Re-Imagining Economic Sociology. Edited by Patrik Aspers and Nigel Dodd. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Pp. xiii+324. $110.00.

Abstract

Here’s a basic criterion for evaluating a social scientific theory: Does the theory make progress addressing an important, difficult “research question” that other social scientists can appreciate? This criterion seems so obvious as to be banal. After all, a social scientific theory is a tool—a means, not an end. And we cannot assess the value of a tool if we do not know what tasks it helps us solve; nor can we know the limits of that tool and whether we might need to combine that tool with others to get the job done. And finally, without knowing the purpose of the tool, we can hardly assess the toolmaker’s claims that she has made improvements in the tool or that her tool is superior to those of competitors.