Toward a Hayekian Theory of Social Change

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Published by Bloomsbury Publishing in Economy, Polity, and Society

This volume explores the political economy and social philosophy of F. A. Hayek as they relate to social change. Arguably one limitation of Hayek’s social philosophy is that he, as some of his contemporaries quipped, does not know the words “for example.” This means that much of his work on social philosophy is relatively abstract and hard to approach. This might also explain why it has taken so long for scholars to fully appreciate the breadth and depth of his social philosophy. Toward a Hayekian Theory of Social Change remedies the lack of more practical studies of Hayek’s theory of social change by bringing together several scholars from different social science disciplines who relate Hayek’s theory of social change to empirical phenomena and methodological debates within their respective disciplines.

Contents

Introduction
Peter J. Boettke, Erwin Dekker, and Chad Van Schoelandt

Chapter 1: Technological Progress as the Only Source of Economic Growth?: F.A. Hayek's Critical Assessment of Growth of Technological Knowledge as a Decisive Factor for Economic Growth
Lachezar Grudev

Chapter 2: Gift-Giving as a Substitution for Monetary Exchange: Evidence from the Potlatch
Casey Pender

Chapter 3: Locating the Artisan in Hayek's Free Civilization
Jamie L. Carini  

Chapter 4: The Form of the Farm
Samuel Schmitt  

Chapter 5: Friedrich Hayek on Freedom and the Rule of Law in The Constitution of Liberty
Abigail Staysa  

Chapter 6: Imperfect Laws and Liberties: The English Common Law System in Medieval Ireland
Craig Lyons  

Chapter 7: Microenterprise Development in the Caribbean: Entrepreneurial Opportunity, Cultural Context, and Emergent Orders
Kayleigh Thompson  

Chapter 8: A Tale of Two Crimes: An Inquiry into the Normative Evaluation of Illicit Spontaneous Orders
Florian A. Hartjen  

Chapter 9: Hayek on the Origins of Moral Sentiments: Biological versus Cultural Mechanisms for the Evolution and Transmission of Human Morality
Edgar V. Cook