Moral Economy

Definition of Moral Economy

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of Moral Economy: The central characteristic of economic activity in a tribal society. Rather than economic exchanges being motivated by self-interest, greed or profit, exchanges are driven by moral obligations created by kinship relations, gift giving, and rituals. A hunter or food gatherer may by obliged to give much of the food to a network of relations, thus accounting for the distribution of food within the community. It was the final collapse of economic exchange as moral obligation that Karl Marx (1818-1883) bemoaned when he described the ‘cash nexus’ that has become the central medium and motivator of exchange in a capitalist society. See: GIFT, THE / POTLATCH in this legal dictionary and in the world encyclopedia of law.

Moral Economy: Resources

Notes and References

• Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) Moral Economy. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada