Abstract
At the centenary of fiscal sociology, this book considers the potential of this movement for analyses of budgeting, taxation and austerity in the UK.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
1883–1950. Chair at University of Bonn, Germany, 1925–1930. Lecturer and other posts at Harvard University, from 1930.
- 2.
His use of the term echoes Giddens’ claim that history and sociology “are and always have been the same thing” (Goldthorpe 1994: 55, citing Giddens 1979: 230). The choice of the term by Schumpeter appears in many ways to be of its time, and a bit dated, not least because it seems to assume that history and sociology use the same evidence (Goldthorpe ibid.: 56). It is also evocative of Hart’s use of the term “descriptive sociology” (2012: xlv), which Schauer described as an “…identification… that few sociologists would be able to fathom” (2005: 860). He suggests that “…Hart’s claim to be doing descriptive sociology might be an implicit recognition that to explain the concept of law is to engage in a descriptive practice ultimately grounded in observation of actual legal systems” (ibid.; see also Lacey 2017, providing an in depth consideration of Hart’s use of the term, and suggesting that whilst he hoped to acknowledge the importance of Austinian linguistic theory, he also aimed to expand beyond that). The term sociology, generally, does appear to be used loosely in many of the early and mid-twentieth century pieces referred to in this book, and not simply by Schumpeter. In the twenty-first century, economic sociologists have employed the term as a reminder that it is important to consider taxation when they approach the reproduction of inequality (and have tended not to linger on the fact that Schumpeter’s methods differ from theirs). Socio-legal scholars have approached fiscal sociology as a way of considering the connection between tax, spending, and the social contract.
- 3.
John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), British economist whose ideas changed the course of public policy, and the economic practice of governments. His masterpiece is presumed to be his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (originally published in 1936; 2018). “Keynesianism” generally refers to ideas explored within General Theory. Very broadly, Krugman (in the introduction to the 2018 publication of this text) suggests that Keynes’ argument can be summarised as four “bullet points”: “(1) Economies can and often do suffer from an overall lack of demand, which leads to voluntary unemployment; (2) The economy’s automatic tendency to correct shortfalls in demand, if it exists at all, operates slowly and painfully; (3) Government policies to increase demand, by contrast, can reduce unemployment quickly; (4) Sometimes increasing the money supply won’t be enough to persuade the private sector to spend more, and government spending must step into the breach” (xxvii–xxviii).
- 4.
References
Barker, Elisabeth. 1973. Austria 1918–1972. London and Basingstoke: Springer.
Giddens, Anthony. 1979. Central Problems in Social Theory: Action, Structure, and Contradiction in Social Analysis. Vol. 241. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Goldthorpe, John H. 1994. “The Uses of History in Sociology: A Reply.” The British Journal of Sociology 45 (1): 55–77.
Hart, H. L. A., and Leslie Green. 2012. The Concept of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keynes, John Maynard. 2018. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Cambridge: Palgrave Macmillan. Originally published 1936.
Lacey, Nicola. 2017. “Analytical Jurisprudence Versus Descriptive Sociology Revisited.” In Legal Theory and the Social Sciences, 111–148. London: Routledge.
Piketty, Thomas. 2014. “Capital in the Twenty-First Century: A Multidimensional Approach to the History of Capital and Social Classes.” The British Journal of Sociology 65 (4): 736.
Piketty, Thomas. 2017. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
Schauer, Frederick. 2005. “(Re) Taking Hart.” HeinOnline.
Schumpeter, Joseph A. 1918/1953. “Die Krise des Steuerstaates.” Graz-Leipzig: Leuschner & Lubensky; reprinted as pp. 1–71, in J. A. Schumpeter, “Aufsätze zur Soziologie.” English translation by W. F. Stolper and R. A. Musgrave, in International Economic Papers. London: Macmillan, 1954.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mumford, A. (2019). Introduction. In: Fiscal Sociology at the Centenary. Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27496-2_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27496-2_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-27495-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-27496-2
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)