Sociology, Economics, and Gender: Can Knowledge of the Past Contribute to a Better Future?

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 69, No. 4, pp. 1127-1154, October 2010

30 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2009 Last revised: 23 Nov 2011

See all articles by Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

University of Massachusetts at Boston - Department of Economics; Tufts University - Global Development and Environment Institute

Date Written: August 1, 2008

Abstract

This essay explores the profoundly gendered nature of the split between the disciplines of economics and sociology which took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emphasizing implications for the relatively new field of economic sociology. Drawing on historical documents and feminist studies of science, it investigates the gendered processes underlying the divergence of the disciplines in definition, method, and degree of engagement with social problems. Economic sociology has the potential to heal this disciplinary split, but only if the field is broadened, deepened, and made wiser and more self-reflective through the use of feminist analysis.

Keywords: economics, sociology, economic sociology, history of economic thought, gender, methodology, feminist economics

JEL Classification: A12, B00, J16, A13

Suggested Citation

Nelson, Julie A., Sociology, Economics, and Gender: Can Knowledge of the Past Contribute to a Better Future? (August 1, 2008). The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 69, No. 4, pp. 1127-1154, October 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1387022

Julie A. Nelson (Contact Author)

University of Massachusetts at Boston - Department of Economics ( email )

100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.umb.edu/academics/cla/dept/economics/faculty/facultyNelson.html

Tufts University - Global Development and Environment Institute ( email )

MA
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/about_us/researchers.html#nelson

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