The Essential Writings of Thorstein Veblen

The 38 selections in the volume include complete texts of all of Veblen’s major articles and book reviews from 1882 to 1914, plus key chapters from his books The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904) and The Instinct of Workmanship (1914). These writings present a wide range of Veblen’s most significant contributions, especially with respect to the philosophical and psychological foundations of economics, sociology, and other social sciences.

A thorougly comprehensive volume, this is the only collection to present Veblen’s writings in chronological order, so that their development can be correctly understood. The volume is edited by a leading sociologist and a prominent economist, who provide extensive introductory essays which include item-by-item commentaries that place each selection in its intellectual-historical context and in relation to subsequent developments in economics. It makes for a valuable source of reference both for students and researchers alike.

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Charles Camic is John Evans Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. Previously, he was Martindale-Bascom Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Geoffrey M. Hodgson is a Research Professor in Business Studies at the University of Hertfordshire. He is an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and the author of of over 100 academic journal articles, as well as having written numerous books.