Summary of The Great Transformation

The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time is a classic work of twentieth-century intellectual history by Karl Polanyi. The book examines the social and political upheavals that took place in England during the 19th century, when modern industrial capitalism changed the structure of society. Polanyi explores how the process of industrialization and its related economic and social changes affected people, cultures, and political systems. He also critiques the idea of a self-regulating market economy and offers an alternative. The book argues that a free market leads to a "self-regulating market society" that Polanyi calls a "stark utopia" and calls the 19th-century transformations “the great transformation”. He suggests that the only way to prevent the negative effects of market society is to employ a system of economic planning and direct government intervention in the market. He concludes that the only way humans can protect themselves from the vagaries of a deregulated market economy is to create institutions which protect society from economic chaos.