Karl Polanyi Quotes
Karl Polanyi was a Hungarian-American economic historian, social theorist, and political philosopher. After service in the Austro-Hungarian army and a period of activism in Vienna, he emigrated to England and then to the United States, where he taught at Bennington and Columbia. The quotes below are attributed to Karl Polanyi, organized by topic.
Browse Karl Polanyi by topic
Karl Polanyi on Justice
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“Enclosures have appropriately been called a revolution of the rich against the poor. The lords and nobles were upsetting the social order, breaking down ancient law and custom, sometimes by means of violence, often by pressure and intimidation. They were literally robbing the poor of their share in the common, tearing down the houses which, by the hitherto unbreakable force of custom, the poor had long regarded as theirs and their heirs'.”
Ch. 3 : "Habitation versus Improvement
Karl Polanyi on Knowledge
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“The Essence of Fascism", In J. Lewis, K. Polanyi, D. K. Kitchin (eds), Christianity and the Social Revolution (1935)”
A bare outline of the objective nature of Fascism thus tends to support our interpretation of its philosophy. The Fascist system has to carry on persistently the task begun by the Fascist Movement: the destruction of the democratic parties, organisations, and institutions in society. Fascism must then proceed to attempt to change the nature of human consciousness itself. The pragmatic reasons for -
“Both the personnel and the motives of this singular body invested it with a status the roots of which were securely grounded in the private sphere of strictly commercial interest.”
Ch. 1 : The Hundred Years' Peace -
“Ch. 2 : Conservative Twenties, Revolutionary Thirties”
The true nature of the international system under which we were living was not realized until it failed. Hardly anyone understood the political function of the international monetary system; the awful suddenness of the transformation thus took the world completely by surprise. And yet the gold standard was the only remaining pillar of the traditional world economy; when it broke, the effect was bo -
“At the heart of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century there was an almost miraculous improvement in the tools of production, which was accompanied by a catastrophic dislocation of the lives of the common people.”
Ch. 3 : "Habitation versus Improvement -
“Ch. 3 : "Habitation versus Improvement”
At the heart of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century there was an almost miraculous improvement in the tools of production, which was accompanied by a catastrophic dislocation of the lives of the common people. -
“Ch. 3 : "Habitation versus Improvement”
Enclosures have appropriately been called a revolution of the rich against the poor. The lords and nobles were upsetting the social order, breaking down ancient law and custom, sometimes by means of violence, often by pressure and intimidation. They were literally robbing the poor of their share in the common, tearing down the houses which, by the hitherto unbreakable force of custom, the poor had
Karl Polanyi on Nature
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“The true nature of the international system under which we were living was not realized until it failed. Hardly anyone understood the political function of the international monetary system; the awful suddenness of the transformation thus took the world completely by surprise. And yet the gold standard was the only remaining pillar of the traditional world economy; when it broke, the effect was bound to be instantaneous. To liberal economists the gold standard was a purely economic institution; they refused even to consider it as a part of a social mechanism.”
Ch. 2 : Conservative Twenties, Revolutionary Thirties
Karl Polanyi on Politics
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“The road to the free market was opened and kept open by an enormous increase in continuous, centrally organized and controlled interventionism.”
Ch. 12 : Birth of the Liberal Creed -
Attributed to Karl Polanyi:
“Society is the way human beings hold together.”
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Attributed to Karl Polanyi:
“Labor, land, and money are essentially fictitious commodities.”
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Attributed to Karl Polanyi:
“The market has been the outcome of a conscious and often violent intervention on the part of government.”
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Attributed to Karl Polanyi:
“Power and economic value are a paradigm of social reality.”
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“Ch. 1 : The Hundred Years' Peace”
Nineteenth-century civilization rested on four institutions. The first was the balance-of-power system which for a century prevented the occurrence of any long and devastating war between the Great Powers. The second was the international gold standard which symbolized a unique organization of world economy. The third was the self-regulating market which produced an unheard-of material welfare. Th -
“Ch. 1 : The Hundred Years' Peace”
Both the personnel and the motives of this singular body invested it with a status the roots of which were securely grounded in the private sphere of strictly commercial interest.