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Social scientists have been paying increasing attention to the works of Karl Polanyi. Of particular interest has been his claim that the (re)structuring of the economy based on the ideals of the self-regulating market inevitably leads society to reassert itself against the commodification of land, labour and money. Referred to as the "double movement," this idea has been used by many scholars to challenge the underlying logic of free-market principles and to explain popular resistance to reforms based on it. There are two aspects of Polanyi's double movement. The first refers to the push for free market reforms by various groups in society. The second refers to the counter-movements that he argues necessarily and spontaneously mobilize against it. Many who draw on Polanyi focus on the second aspect and how it might apply to contemporary debates. Less attention has been paid to the contemporary applicability of the first aspect. In this paper I argue that this is an area that deserves further attention, both from those who wish to apply his ideas as well as from those who wish to challenge them.
Introduction
Over the past 25 years social scientists, especially those with an interest in political economy, have been paying increasing attention to the works of Karl Polanyi. Of particular interest has been his claim that the (re)structuring of the economy, and society more generally, based on the ideals ofthe self-regulating or free market inevitably leads society to reassert itself against the commodification of land, labour and money. Referred to as the "double movement," this idea has been used by many scholars to challenge the underlying logic of free market principles and to explain popular resistance to the way in which those principles have influenced the development of capitalism. There are two aspects of Polanyi's double movement. The first aspect refers to the push for free market reforms by various groups in society. The second aspect refers to the counter movements that he argues necessarily and spontaneously mobilize against it. Many of those who draw on Polanyi's work have tended to focus their attention on the second aspect of the double movement and how it might be applied to contemporary debates.1 Attention has also been paid to his historical account of the rise...