IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/revaec/v31y2018i2d10.1007_s11138-017-0389-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Schumpeter: Theorist of the avant-garde

Author

Listed:
  • Erwin Dekker

    (Erasmus School of History, Culture & Communication
    George Mason University)

Abstract

This paper argues that Schumpeter’s 1911 edition of ‘Theory of Economic Development’ can be fruitfully read as a theory of the avant-garde, in line with such theories developed by artistic avant-garde around the same time, in particular by the Italian Futurists. In particular it will show that both Schumpeter and other avant-garde theorists sought to break with past (1), identify an avant-garde who could force that break (2), find new ways to represent the dynamic world (3), embrace the new and dynamic (4) and promote a perpetual dynamic process, instead of a specific end-state or utopia (5). This new reading helps us to understand the cultural meaning of this seminal text in economics. Secondly it greatly facilitates our understanding of the differences with the later interwar German edition and English edition, which were more cautious in their embrace of the new, less focused on the individual qualities of the entrepreneur and placed more emphasis on historical continuity. Thirdly this reading suggests a different reason for the bifurcation between Schumpeter and the rest of the Austrian school of economics. Traditionally this split is explained by Schumpeter’s affinities with the Lausanne School, this paper instead suggests that the crucial break between Schumpeter on the one hand and Böhm-Bawerk, Wieser and later members of the Austrian School on the other hand is their theory of and attitude toward social change.

Suggested Citation

  • Erwin Dekker, 2018. "Schumpeter: Theorist of the avant-garde," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 177-194, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:31:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11138-017-0389-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-017-0389-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11138-017-0389-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11138-017-0389-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Viktor Vanberg, 2015. "Schumpeter and Mises as ‘Austrian Economists’," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 91-105, January.
    2. Esben Sloth Andersen, 2002. "Railroadization As Schumpeter'S Standard Case: An Evolutionary-Ecological Account," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1-2), pages 41-78.
    3. Jurgen Backhaus, 2002. "The Seventh Chapter Of Schumpeter'S The Theory Of Economic Development Presentation," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1-2), pages 91-92.
    4. Dekker,Erwin, 2019. "The Viennese Students of Civilization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107565661.
    5. Markus Becker & Thorbjørn Knudsen & Richard Swedberg, 2012. "Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development: 100 years of development," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 917-933, November.
    6. Joseph A. Schumpeter, 2002. "New Translations from Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 405-437, April.
    7. Ursula Backhaus, 2002. "Seventh Chapter Of The Theory Of Economic Development," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1-2), pages 93-145.
    8. Kurt Rothschild, 2015. "Eduard März and Joseph Schumpeter," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 229-237, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Kolev, 2020. "The legacy of Max Weber and the early Austrians," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 33-54, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nnaemeka Vincent Emodi & Girish Panchakshara Murthy & Chinenye Comfort Emodi & Adaeze Saratu Augusta Emodi, 2017. "Factors Influencing Innovation and Industrial Performance in Chinese Manufacturing Industry," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(06), pages 1-32, December.
    2. Nicolas Brisset & Raphaël Fèvre, 2019. "Peregrinations of an Economist: Perroux's Grand Tour of Fascist Europe," GREDEG Working Papers 2019-11, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    3. Fengju, Xu & Wubishet, Assmamawu, 2024. "Analysis of the impacts of financial development on economic growth in East Africa: How do the institutional qualities matter?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1177-1189.
    4. Mishra Chandra S. & Zachary Ramona K., 2013. "The Nature of the Firm, the Growth and Resource-Based Theories of the Firm, and the Emergent Theory of the Entrepreneur: A Dedication to Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 3(4), pages 433-436, September.
    5. Edward M. Bergman & Gunther Maier & Patrick Lehner, 2008. "Banning the Bahn: transport Infrastructure effects on Austrian cluster firms," International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1/2), pages 3-24.
    6. Scott Scheall, 2015. "A Hayekian Explanation of Hayek's 'Epistemic Turn'," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-32, September.
    7. Agnes Festre & Eric Nasica, 2009. "Schumpeter on money, banking and finance: an institutionalist perspective," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 325-356.
    8. Kolev, Stefan & Köhler, Ekkehard A., 2021. "Transatlantic Roads to Mont Pèlerin: "Old Chicago" and Freiburg in a World of Disintegrating Orders," Working Papers 309, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    9. Dalton, John T. & Logan, Andrew J., 2022. "The Man Who Discovered Capitalism: A documentary on Schumpeter for use in the classroom," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    10. Darcy W E Allen, 2020. "When Entrepreneurs Meet:The Collective Governance of New Ideas," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number q0269, August.
    11. Kolev, Stefan, 2019. "Antipathy for Heidelberg, sympathy for Freiburg? Vincent Ostrom on Max Weber, Walter Eucken, and the compound history of order," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 19/6, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    12. Kenza El Qaoumi & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil & Aytunç Ün, 2017. "Testing Evolutionary Theory of Household Consumption Behavior in the case of Novelty – Product characteristics approach," Post-Print hal-01619967, HAL.
    13. Kenza Qaoumi & Pascal Masson & Benoit Weil & Aytunç Ün, 2018. "Testing evolutionary theory of household consumption behavior in the case of novelty - a product characteristics approach," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 437-460, April.
    14. Vladimir Komarov, 2012. "Main Principles of Innovation Theory," Published Papers 173, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, revised 2013.
    15. Youqiang Ding & Yufeng Hu, 2021. "Inflection Point of Green Total Factor Productivity by Low-Carbon Regulation from Chinese Economics Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    16. Vinay Kumar Singh & Salah Abosedra & Ali Fakih & Sajal Ghosh & Kakali Kanjilal, 2023. "Economic volatility and financial deepening in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from panel cointegration with cross-sectional heterogeneity and endogenous structural breaks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(5), pages 2013-2038, November.
    17. Hansjörg Klausinger, 2019. "The Nationalökonomische Gesellschaft from its foundation to the postwar period: prosperity and depression," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 487-503, August.
    18. Markus C. Becker & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2017. "Heterogeneity of habits as a foundation for Schumpeterian economic policy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 43-62, January.
    19. Gilles Campagnolo & Sandye Gloria & Heinz Kurz & Richard Sturn, 2022. "On the modernity of Carl Menger: criss-cross views. Roundtable conversation," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 967-992, September.
    20. Christ Kevin, 2018. "A Measure of Judgments – Wilhelm Röpke’s Methodological Heresy," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 69(1), pages 35-50, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Schumpeter; Avant-garde; Economic development; Modernism; Futurism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • B10 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - General
    • O00 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - General - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:31:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11138-017-0389-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.