Social and Political Economy

Most humans grow up in family groups of some sort and therefore get basic training in working together, sharing, and identifying as a member of a collective with a group identity. This capacity to belong seems very basic to many, a "natural" characteristic of the species. The social exchange theory used by game theorists tries to show that individual maximizing leads people to form social groups as a rational solution to real-world economic problems. Emile Durkheim, a French author and professor, is a principal founding figure for social science. He combines some of the threads of nineteenth-century thought in new ways, but he belongs firmly in the conservative tradition. He portrayed social life as a constant interplay between the individual, private, and everyday world and the sacred and timeless traditions of society. In Durkheim&s;s version of social evolution, the opposite poles are societies dominated by mechanical solidarity at one extreme and those dominated by organic solidarity at the other.

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