The economy as a distinct objective domain emerged only in the mid-twentieth century
Evidence
Timothy Mitchell reminds us in Rule of Experts that “the economy,” a noun with a definite article, a noun naming an objective domain, rather than a process or practice, came into being only in the 1940s and 1950s. Prior to this time, “economy” (without the article) referred to seeking a desired end with the least possible expenditure of means, closer to our notion of efficiency or thriftiness today. (A trace lingers in our language, as when we say “that’s a very economical method” or refer to “economizing” in our expenditures or to “economy class” on an airplane.) Thus, when coupled with the adjective, “political,” Mitchell argues, “economy” identified a particular mode of governing community affairs, not a structure of production and exchange and not the domain of the market or the sphere of material life. In fact, it is only when the definite article is slipped in that “the economy” is cast as a self-contained structure, one in which wealth generation becomes its own autonomous sphere. Compare this with the etymological root of economy, oikos, which identified for the ancient Greeks the space/place of the household, not material life as such, not the market, and not the economy. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 163
Categorization
- XREF: This historicity of ‘the economy’ grounds the reading purpose claim that neoliberalism’s spread is recent and reversible. Also connects to Timothy Mitchell’s Rule of Experts. — connects to: The economy’s weight relative to society varies historically rather than ontologically — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1176; Economic abstractions are historically determined, not universal or extra-historical; The economy is a constructed concept rather than a natural object. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media: How Wall Street…, 538
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: the etymology from oikos (household) and what the modern reification of ‘the economy’ does to policy discourse like ‘the markets are jumpy.‘
Broader Connections
- Economic abstractions are historically determined, not universal or extra-historical
#corroborates(0.85) - The economy’s weight relative to society varies historically rather than ontologically
#corroborates(0.82) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1176 - The economy is a constructed concept rather than a natural object.
#corroborates(0.82) — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 538