Stephen Edgell - Veblen in Perspective: His Life and Thought

Veblen in
Perspective

For the inestimable contributions of
Jaffa (198599) and Megan (1996)
to my well-being whilst I was writing this book.

I first came across the work of Thorstein Vehlen (18571929) in Peter Bergers Invitation to Sociology (1963) nearly four decades ago. In this brief but brilliant advertisement for sociology, Berger refers to just two of Veblens eight book-length studies and describes him as one of the early important sociologists in America (1963,44). Berger sums up Veblens distinctive contribution by noting that: [h]is approach to sociology is characterized by its merciless debunking orientation, its concentration on economic factors in social development and a strong affinity with radical critiques of capitalist society (1963, 18081). At a time when functionalism was dominant, I was hooked, and I resolved to read the two books cited by Berger and all Veblens works when the opportunity arose.

The opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about this imperspicuous sociologist presented itself when I decided to take a break from empirical research and spent the 1973 summer vacation ensconced in Manchester Central Public Library with the writings of Thorstein Veblen. Reading the bulk of Veblens intellectual output at one sitting, as it were, revealed that his social scientific contribution was characterized by a theoretical coherence that the vast majority of scholars had either underrated or failed to recognize. This prompted me to write an article which sought to make good this gap in the literature (Edgell 1975). Specifically, I argued that Veblens often-maligned general theory of evolutionary change was the integrating dimension of his sociological project, one that focused on a macroeconomic and sociological account of American capitalism.

After returning to and completing my empirical social research on middle-class couples (Edgell 1980), I started to teach a Masters-level course on Veblen. At this stage in my career I was distracted initially by serious ill health and then by Thatcherism (Edgell and Duke 1991). In between collecting and reporting on a longitudinal survey research into the social and political effects of Thatcherism, I took some more time out from the rigors of field work to write a bibliographical essay on Veblen (Edgell 1987). This overview of Veblens sociological contribution was intended as a guide to both the original and the secondary literature on Veblen. That I found this exercise instructive is reflected in the material for this book, although specific points of interpretation and the general compass of the content are markedly different. Since the end of Thatcher and the completion of my work on Thatcherism, aside from writing a short textbook on class with special reference to Britain and America (Edgell 1993) and coediting a couple of monographs of relevance to certain Veblenian concerns, namely the decline of the public sphere (Edgell et al. 1995), and the sociology and anthropology of consumption (Edgell et al. 1996), I have concentrated on the writings of Veblen and interpretations of them. This has involved writing, presenting, and publishing, as sole and joint author, a range of papers on various aspects of Veblens work. In the process I became aware that often I was the only Veblen buff from Britain who was engaged in a regular way with the latest Veblen scholarship and that my perspective on Veblen was different from the perspectives of my American colleagues. For instance, I filtered Veblen through the lenses of my greater familiarity with British and European, compared with American, history, thinkers and ideas, whereas the opposite was the case generally for American Veblenians.