Descriptif

The course considers the development of economics in relation to the consolidation of the social sciences after the Second World.  It is often argued that economics gradually moved away from other social sciences after the war and that it built for itself an image of a discipline using rigorous methods and models. This self-image has often been accepted, and thereby reinforced, by historians of economics and other social sciences.  This view that economics is separate from the other social sciences shades into a sense of superiority over other social scientists.  Yet, the relationships between economics and other social science disciplines were central to the definition of its new identity.  To begin with, the social sciences as a whole were shaped by shared political, social, and intellectual contexts and there are therefore important parallels between their developments. Likewise, economists played no minor role in cross-disciplinary efforts in the two decades following 1945 so that the identities of economics and other social sciences can be viewed as the outcome of an ever-evolving process directly linked to their exchanges. Finally, economics was not alone in considering itself the queen of the social sciences.

Localisation: ENS-Cachan

Enseignant: Philippe Fontaine

Langue du cours : Anglais

Credit ECTS : 2