Social and Behavioral Sciences Interest Group

Time: Friday afternoon, every other week, 1:30-3:00pm Central time 
Place: 737 Heller Hall and online via Zoom
 

The Social and Behavioral Sciences Interest Group (SoBIG) reads and discusses works of mutual interest in the philosophy of the social sciences, particularly in social thought and political economy. We select readings for a variety of reasons: to keep up on the most exciting developments in the field, to help participants examine literature relevant to their research projects, to provide feedback on works in progress being written by SoBIG participants, to revisit classic articles in the literature, and sometimes just to have fun discussing a topic related to the social sciences. For information, please contact Henri Chastain ([email protected])

Subscribe to our mailing list

Summer 2026

This Summer SoBIG will be reading The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time by the Hungarian Economic Historian Karl Polanyi. In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the "great transformation" of the Industrial Revolution. The text is available through the UMN Library online access.

June 12: Authors Acknowledgements (pp xi-2), Ch. 1 (pp 3-20), Ch. 2 (pp 21-34). PDF.
 
June 26: Ch. 3 (pp 35-44), Ch. 4 (pp 45-58), Ch. 5 (pp 59-70), Ch. 6 (pp 71-80), Ch. 7 (pp 81-89). PDF. 
 
July 17: Ch. 8 (pp 90-107), Ch. 9 (pp 108-115), Ch. 10 (pp 116-135), Ch. 11 (pp 136-140). PDF. 
 
July 31: Ch. 12 (pp 141-157), Ch. 13 (pp 158-170), Ch. 14 (pp 171-186), Ch. 15 (pp 187-200), Ch. 16 (pp 201-209). PDF. 
 
August 14: Ch. 17 (pp 210-217), Ch. 18 (pp 218-230), Ch. 19 (pp 231-244), Ch. 20 (pp 245-256), Ch. 21 (pp 257-268). PDF. 

 

Our meetings are informal and some participants need to arrive late or leave early because of scheduling conflicts. All faculty from the University of Minnesota and area colleges and universities and graduate students are welcome to attend whenever they would like (without invitation) and without giving advanced notice. Undergraduates are included by invitation. (If you know of an undergraduate who is well-suited and possibly interested, please contact Henri Chastain ([email protected]) or Vinay Brandon ([email protected]) so an invitation can be extended.)