Markets

William A. Jackson is Lecturer in Economics at the University of York, UK.

"For something that is increasingly shaping everybody’s lives so profoundly, a market is surprisingly ill-understood. William Jackson provides as thorough an account and understanding of the key, yet elusive idea of a ‘market’ as has been seen in many years. This treasure of a book is likely to dominate the discussion about markets for years to come." Wilfred Dolfsma, Professor of Business Management & Organisation at Wageningen University, The Netherlands"Whatever markets are, two things are clear: mainstream economists cannot theorise them adequately, and any adequate theorisation must be multi-disciplinary. Unfortunately, mainstream economists fail to alert their audience to these things. William provides critics from inside and outside the discipline with the intellectual resources to reject mainstream theories of markets and make a start developing alternatives." Steve Fleetwood, Emeritus Professor, University of the West of England"Jackson’s excellent new book provides a comprehensive appraisal of how economists and social scientists have explained markets. Critical of the narrow neoclassical approach, it emphasizes the diversity of markets in the real world, and argues a layered, non-reductionist social theory attentive to social and cultural factors offering a better framework for a heterodox view of markets." John B. Davis, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Marquette University, and Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Amsterdam

• List of figures. List of tables. Preface. Part I: What are markets?. 1 Defining markets. 2 The orthodox approach. Part II: Historical background. 3 Markets before capitalism4 Markets under capitalism. Part III: Alternative perspectives on markets. 5 Social and cultural approaches. 6 Structural approaches. 7 Functional approaches. 8 Ethical approaches. Part IV: Variety and context. 9 The diversity of markets. 10 Markets within the total economy. Bibliography. Index