Introduction
Social theory explains the effect of social relationships on the social and economic institutions in the society. Many social theorists, classical, and neoclassical theorists have focused this field (Granovetter 481). The interaction between different structures of the society is becoming intense with most of the structures depending on others. In modern market economies, interaction between social and economic structures is narrowed to individual influences in each system or structure.
The growth of the society has resulted in the need for the opening of economics, and this is known as economic liberalization. The liberalization of economies and the development of competitive markets cause many questions concerning the embeddedness of political, social, and economic structures in society. Competitive market economies are controlled by generative market force. These forces are demand and supply.
These market forces continue to take shape in the society, and this causes questions on whether political and social structures still have a strong force in the working of free and competitive markets. This forms the main topic of this research. The topic of research is assessing the role and impact of social and political structures in the working of modern liberal markets.
The research problem
This research seeks to ascertain the level of interplay and contribution of political structures in shaping the working of modern economies. The topic of the research has been motivated by the continued argument on the embeddedness of political, economic, and social structures.
With considerable demand and direction towards completely liberalized economies, the level of embeddedness of these structures seems to decline. However, many researchers still hold to the view that these structures are embedded. They fail to produce real findings indicating that the structures are still embedded as argued by classical theorists and now neoclassical theorists.
Another aspect that warrants the attention of researchers is the impacts of detachment of one structural function from the working of another structure. A good example can be the elimination of political structures in respect to the working of economies. The difficult question that is posed to social theorists regarding this subject is the establishment of the most important structure that carries all the others. Does a social structure prevail within the larger economic structure or is the vice versa true?
Many economic theorists continue to argue for the essence of political influence on the working of economies. They base their argument on a number of economic crises that have occurred and the role that political structures have played in remedying such situations. This seems to be a logical argument, but attention should also be given to how such situations develop.
It cannot be denied that social and political structures impact on economic structures. The level of influence of these structures has to be given much attention too. Economic structures are said to have strong foundations in political structures. Free market economies, otherwise known as Laissez-faire, are outcomes of political economies.
As economies are set and keep working in the social environment, they are controlled by forces within them together with the influence of the social environment. Can social and political structures be separated from the working of economic structures or is it only the influence that can be reduced? This is an ignored concern in the modern economic operation where many people are used to associating the working of the three main societal structures.
Differences continue to be seen in terms of the changes that are taking place within each structure of the component. The modern society is undergoing a transformation. Transformation comes with many changes, and most of the changes result in the removal of facet points of linkages between one system and other systems.
The changing structure of the economy in the society has an impact on the embeddedness of the critical systems of the society. This is being sidelined with the emphasis on the existence of extensive relations between societal systems. This research attempts to fill this gap by tackling this ignored dimension of social research.
Main purpose of research
Most arguments on social theory have argued for the embeddedness of the three structures of the society. However, the organization of the society is changing with changes in the economic patterns of society. The world is adopting a liberalized market economy. The main purpose of this research is to prove the difference in the level of embeddedness between economic structure and the social and political structures.
Research objectives
There are four main objectives of this research study. These objectives will open up the research subject by streamlining the path taken in the research.
• The first objective is to define the term embeddedness in relation to the three systems of society: social, political and economic.
• The second objective is to establish the rate at which economies in the world are being liberalized.
• The third objective of this research is to ascertain the level at which economic systems are still embedded in the political and social structures.
• The fourth objective is to assess the contribution of economic liberalization and the emergence of free market economy to the embeddedness of societal systems.
Research questions
This research will be guided by three main research questions.
• What does the term embeddedness of societal systems mean in the modern society? Is the meaning of the term the same as compared to its meaning in the classical times?
• What is the trend of economic liberalization in the current society? Is economic liberalization a subject of concern in the society?
• Are the modern economic systems influenced by the political and economic systems? Is the level of influence the same as it was in the last 50 years?
• What is the contribution of the liberation of economies to the present level of embeddedness between economic systems and the social and political structures?
Review of literature
The social theory research seeks to exploit the relationship between different structures and the way they interact to make a functional society. From the ancient social theories to the recent or neoclassical theories, there is evidence that the society is built around different structures. These structures include political, social, and economic structures. These structures interact with each other to bring about a functional societal environment.
The survival of any of the systems is based on the support that is received from other systems. The theories are backed by real experiences in the society where political decisions are used to shape economic relations. Social functions also back the working of the economy in one sense or another. According to research, it is difficult to separate one system of society from other systems. The elimination of any of the systems leaves significant weaknesses to other system denoting a dysfunctional society.
The trend towards the liberalization of economic functions is a reality and a focus of economic researchers. The subject of economic liberalization is not a new subject. It is one of the subjects that dominated trade development debates from the early times and gained considerable ground in the mid 1950s.
This debate has dragged to the prevailing times. The center point of the argument for free economy is the entanglement of the economy from political affairs. Political systems have to give space for the economy to work independently. This is not an easy practice to attain, but there are pointers of development towards that direction. The detaching of economic functions from social functions is a hard thing to attain.
Research methodology
Research design
This is purely a secondary research that will heavily borrow information from secondary resources. An explanatory research method will be used in this study. This research will utilize information from two main categories. These categories of information will seek to give two independent categories of data, which will be analyzed to give findings.
The two categories of information to be used in this research include information from ancient sources, which present information on embeddedness. The second source of information for this research will be up-to-date materials that try to establish the picture of embeddedness in the prevailing context.
Sampling technique
Systematic sampling will be applied in the research. This will begin by the categorization of material on embeddedness in two main categories: those authored before 1980 and those authored from 1980 to date. This will be followed by a search for relevant information from each category of materials. The information will be sought using title search.
Data collection methods and tools
Data will be collected from different secondary sources through a critical look at the literature. Important points will be recorded during a critical look into the literature. Data will be collected through library research and backed by information from other authentic sources from the internet. The diversity of sources is critical to the quality and authenticity of the findings of this research. Therefore, the range of data sources will be widened as much as possible.
Data analysis and findings
Data will be analyzed using different analytical tools. Data analysis tools that will be used in this research include graphs and charts, which will help in synthesizing the data into meaningful information. The findings will be derived from a thorough analysis of all the data collected. The findings will be used as feedback to the research subject.
Conclusion and recommendations
A conclusion will be given at the end of this research. The conclusion will give a summary of the process and research findings by borrowing from the theory. The conclusion will ascertain the outcome of the research as to whether it will be positive or negative. This will be enabled by the findings of the research. The research will also give a pointer to future researchers in the same field.
Recommendations will also be made. The recommendations will be based on the conclusion and will act as pieces of advice to interested researchers in a similar lane of research. The recommendations will give points that will be critical in improving the course of advanced research on the subject.
Works Cited
Granovetter, Mark. “Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness.” American Journal of Sociology. 91. 3 (1985): 481-510. Print.