Économie, théorie, histoire : essai de clarification

Economc knowledge, economc theory and historical approach The first part of the paper presents, as starting point, a few theses — from Fernand Braudel, Jean Lhomme and Albert Hirschman — on the historical and social dimension of Political Economy. The second part is devoted to the development of three ideas : - a historical insight on both Political Economy and its object is necessary ; - we have to face the fact that Economies and Political Economy are organised in two main « galaxies » : the first, strong and powerfull, turned towards the theoretical systematisation ; the second, weak and divided, turned towards the explanation of economie facts ; - the knowledge of economie facts and dynamics needs an historical perspective.Economc knowledge, economc theory and historical approach The first part of the paper presents, as starting point, a few theses — from Fernand Braudel, Jean Lhomme and Albert Hirschman — on the historical and social dimension of Political Economy. The second part is devoted to the development of three ideas : - a historical insight on both Political Economy and its object is necessary ; - we have to face the fact that Economies and Political Economy are organised in two main « galaxies » : the first, strong and powerfull, turned towards the theoretical systematisation ; the second, weak and divided, turned towards the explanation of economie facts ; - the knowledge of economie facts and dynamics needs an historical perspective.Beaud Michel. Économie, théorie, histoire : essai de clarification. In: Revue économique, volume 42, n°2, 1991. pp. 155-172