Research work's hypothesis-construction

 

3. A third element of my hypothesis-construction: the contribution of American institutionalism (T. Veblen and J. R. Commons) since 2000

Today's fad for institutionalism is a certain academic manner for the researcher to ‘advance behind a mask’ vis-à-vis the standard economy, presently all-powerful in university circles.

Only the old American institutionalism brings an additional value to the two preceding elements to which it can be connected, and the institutionalism of Veblen more so than that of Commons, the latter being (in my opinion) more in the political economy tradition.

The institutionalism of Veblen combines perfectly with the hypothesis-construction of ‘social individuality and socialisation modes’ as well as with that of ‘exteriorities’: exteriority of the ‘shared reserve’ at the origin of appropriable assets, the organizational exteriority (2002). Together with my colleague, L. Kichou, we applied it as a mode of reading, together with the two previous elements, with regard to:
  • the Algerian economy under its different angles (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2010),
  • the economy of multinational firms in the food-processing industry (2003, 2005, 2011)
  • the labour process' present-day characteristics under the multinational firms' dominance (recent –unpublished‑ works).