Subjectivism, Social Structure and the Possibility of Socio-Economic Order: The Case of Ludwig Lachmann

Abstract

We address the challenge of attempting to advance a strong and consistently subjectivist view of economic agency without simultaneously undermining the possibility of providing a coherent account of social institutions and socio-economic order. The argument is presented as a case study and development of the ideas of Ludwig Lachmann, a prominent and self-confessed ‘radical subjectivist’ member of the modern Austrian School, who was both aware of the challenge and sought to meet it. Two significant tensions are revealed in Lachmann’s account, and it is shown how, drawing on recent contributions to realist social theory, these tensions may be resolved.

Keywords: Austrian economics, subjectivism, institutions, social structure, socio-economic order, ontology, Ludwig Lachmann

JEL Classification: B4, B5