 Trautwein’s Challenge to the History of EconomicsA chapter in Waving the Swedish Flag in Economics, 2025, pp 323-335 from Springer Abstract: Abstract Hans-Michael Trautwein raised an important pair of questions regarding the changing nature of economics: is increasing specialization fragmenting and disunifying the field, and if so does the history of economics bear special responsibility for explaining the nature of the field? This paper discusses increasing specialization in economics in the historical context of the post-WWII history of the field, and describes economics’ research structure in core-periphery terms. It then comments on Trautwein’s argument regarding a special role for the history of economics, and addresses what his insights can mean regarding the state of pluralism in economics. Central to this is the distinction between a ‘live and let live’ fragmented sort of pluralism and an engaged pluralism that resists fragmentation. Trautwein’s recommendation that historians of economics both specialize in their own research and also act as generalists regarding economics as a whole offers a path forward for the latter. Keywords: Specialization; Fragmentation; History of economics; Core-periphery; Pluralism; A13; A14; B20; B41 (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:spshcp:978-3-031-71511-2_17 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-71511-2_17 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought from Springer |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.