Reorienting Economics

A Call for Ontological Reorientation in Economics

Tony Lawson’s Reorienting Economics continues the argument he advanced in Economics and Reality: that economics often proceeds with methodological stipulations that ignore the nature of its subject matter. The book is both a critique of modern mainstream economics and a constructive proposal for a more pluralistic, ontologically aware discipline.

Published in 2003 as part of the Economics as Social Theory series, the book asks what kind of social world economics is studying before deciding how it should study it.

From Method to Ontology

Lawson argues that social theorising, and economics in particular, needs to give more explicit and systematic attention to ontology—the nature of the social world. Rather than treating method as a matter of ahistorical, asocial modelling, he calls for an ontological turn that takes seriously the structures, rules, positions, and processes that make social life possible.

What the Book Explores

• The current orientation of economics and four theses on the state of modern economics
• The nature of ontological theorising and its consequences for explanation
• Possibilities for social explanation, causal explanation, and retroduction
• Evolutionary thinking and what economics can and cannot borrow from evolutionary biology
• Contributions from heterodox traditions, including feminist economics, post Keynesianism, and old institutionalism
• The historical process that shaped economics’ current orientation

Pluralism as a Working Principle

Pluralism is central to Lawson’s project. Reorienting Economics is not simply a polemic against orthodoxy; it argues for a continual dialogue between all interested parties where feasible. The goal is a discipline more accommodating of ontology, critical thinking, and alternative traditions, without abandoning rigour.

Who May Find It Useful

Economists, philosophers, social theorists, and students interested in economic methodology and critical realism will find the book directly relevant. It speaks to anyone concerned with the current state of social theorising and how it might be improved. The argument is rigorous and wide ranging, but it is written to engage readers across disciplines rather than only specialists in one school of thought.

About the Series

Reorienting Economics appears in the Economics as Social Theory series, edited by Tony Lawson at the University of Cambridge. The series reclaims the ‘theory’ label for broader, more critical conceptions of theorising than the largely asocial, ahistorical, mathematical modelling that has dominated contemporary economics.

Why It Remains Relevant

For readers interested in the philosophical foundations of economics, Lawson’s call for an ontological turn is a substantial and challenging contribution. It invites economists to ask what kind of social world they are studying before deciding how to study it—a question that continues to shape debates in heterodox economics, social theory, and the philosophy of social science.