Tribe of Issachar
The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi is an ambitious, encompassing work to uncover what went wrong with self-regulating markets and the corresponding effects on civilization, especially during the turn of the 19th century. Polanyi was born in 1886 in Vienna and was an economic historian, social theorist, and political economist. He lived through two wars, the Great Depression, and the Industrial Revolution. Polanyi argues that the failure of self-regulating markets destroyed 19th-century civilization.[1] Four concepts in his book that I found of particular interest were the idea that self-regulating markets require government intervention, embeddedness implications, nature and humans are sacred, and Polanyi’s attempt to review historical events to understand future decisions.
Self-Regulating Markets Require Government Intervention
Polanyi traced the early Industrial Revolution and how the leading thinkers responded to the initial disruptions by developing market liberalism. And Polanyi concludes that market liberalism is responsible for the collapse of peace that led to WWI, the Great Depression, and the rise of fascism.[2] Market liberalism is premised on self-regulating markets. However, Polanyi’s research demonstrated that because of the harmful effects of self-regulation, governments had to step in to help control the market by imposing regulations and other interventions to help protect workers and the poor. On page 257, Polanyi writes, “the true criticism of market society is not that it was based on economics…but that its (society) economy was predicated on self-interest.” After our readings from the past two weeks on the impact of capitalism and the Protestant work ethic – and the initial attempts of asceticism – one can determine it wasn’t long before the underpinnings of greed consumed a great many that government regulations were implemented. Jason Clark’s work, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, substantiates that the initial “religiously disciplined market life ultimately gave way to non-religious resources for understanding society, i.e., the liberal utopia detailed by Polanyi”…Additionally, Clark writes that from this, Evangelicals ceded their influence over the market. Their embeddedness is removed, leaving the new market identity to become a “new society” and community.[3] Also, Clark states on page 163, “God is removed from this process completely, leaving as the only reality the market itself.
Light On A Hill
I touched on the concept of embeddedness in the previous paragraph. However, it is a crucial concept that Polanyi writes about and warrants further discussion. Polanyi writes that the economic system must be embedded into or subordinate to social relations. However, problems arise when society is treated as an afterthought of the market…although economists argued that economic activity must be fully disembedded from society to be effective…this was a utopian idea that would never be able to come to fruition.[4] The critical issue is that economic activity should be subordinated to moral and political systems. The moral aspect is what I am most concerned with, as it should influence how I conduct myself in the capitalist system. Not only that, but it allows me the opportunity to influence others as I am called to be salt and light in the world. If I withdraw my light or my morals are not subordinate to my religious values, I lose my saltiness and, by default, allow unethical and immoral behaviors to abound. No one sits a light on a hill and then covers it – or do they?
Sacredness of Human Life
The fictitious idea that value could be placed on humans, land, and money was closely related to why government regulations were necessary to undergird the so-called self-regulating markets. Polanyi said all three were fabricated commodities because neither was produced for sale on the open market.[5] On this point, Polanyi relies on two arguments. First, humans and land are sacred, so one should not attempt to place a value. Secondly, concerning land, the government must intervene to manage and oversee the production of land resources for the good of all. For Polanyi, putting a price on humans was a moral issue that had been a guiding principle of societies for centuries.[6] While I agree with Polanyi that human life is sacred and priceless – I do not understand how he concluded that it had been a guiding principle of societies for centuries – unless he did not recognize Africans and other indigenous people as human. But I digress.
Tribe of Issachar
Lastly, I was intrigued by the idea that Polanyi wanted his work to be a lesson in how we study the past to learn from it to impact how we imagine the future in the hopes of making better decisions. It is always fascinating to me that, at times, the secular arena has a better grip on what to do than people of faith. I am reminded of the tribe of Issachar. In 1 Chronicles 12:32b, “All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.” These men were from the tribe of Issachar and were explicitly designated by God to understand the chronos (chronological) and kairos (specific) times and guide Israel in the way it should go. I believe that this ability to understand the seasons and times we are in and to be able to speak to the Church and the culture is still available today.
[1] Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press,1944), 257.
[2] Ibid., xxii.
[3] Dr. Jason Clark, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, (2018). Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary. 132. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes/134-134.
[4] Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press,1944), xxiv.
[5] Ibid., xxv.
[6] Ibid., xxv.
About the Author
Audrey Robinson
14 responses to “Tribe of Issachar”
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Audrey,
Great Post! I appreciate how you brought the tribe of Issachar into your post. Holy Spirit lead us!
Amen!
Audrey, Thank you for your post! I appreciated how you brought together so many complicated threads from Polanyi and Clark to create your four main concepts that you then pursued using quotes from the texts and your own thoughts. Can I ask you a practical question? What are the steps you go through to digest the meaning of the text, but then distance yourself enough from it so as to focus on your own ideas about the concepts? I’m wrestling with this process. Thanks for your great model of how to do this and for sharing your thoughts. I’m thankful for all I’m learning from everyone!
Hi Audrey, I also want to know the answer to the question Jenny posed! I was going to ask you a similar question on Monday during our class but I came up with a more pressing question last second.
David,
I just responded to Jenny’s question. I hope I answered the question.
One additional thing I will say is that I’m not afraid to see the “blemishes” in the Church and to speak on them. I don’t have the answers but I believe our faith has been hijacked and it’s time to speak out. (I think we talked about this in South Africa.)
Jenny, really great question.
I would have to say my initial process is probably no different than anyone else. I pull together materials to help me understand the book and I’m conscious of what statement or concept resonates with me. I’m aware of what didn’t the author say or what seemingly is an afterthought in the writing. As I thought about this, I realized it was the “little things” or I liken it to how the Lord speaks to us – it’s the still small voice.
I try to aim for a brief paragraph summary of the overarching theme (not there yet) then I focus on how I processed a few concepts. Finally, my goal is to process through a kingdom perspective to determine how the Church or believer might be expected to respond.
I’m learning to trust what I don’t “see.”
Audrey, Thank you so much! This is really helpful. I especially like what you said about learning to trust what you don’t “see!” Appreciate you sharing your process and helping me to further learn through our writing endeavors.
Great summary and reference to the Tribe of Issachar!
It is humbling to consider how the church has adapted and adopted capitalist influences while a secular prophet is calling out the lack of humanity that can result.
I see some parallels in your work to be a voice that in our time. Do you see an intersection between persistent race division and market forces? I am reminded of a person who often mentioned that the issue of racism in America is really tensions between different economic classes.
Chad, interesting question. After considerable research, I do think that the top 1% have successfully devised a scheme of divide and conquer. I came across Rothschilds name in the Polanyi readings this past week. How much money do you need?
The fact that man has an inherent desire (sin) to conquer other humans. This desire has been severely twisted by the enemy to cause men to create racism, classism, and political schisms – you name it to keep us distracted and disorganized and fighting one another.
Ultimately, we know it is sin but it has become generational in nature (racism).
Audrey – Isn’t it interesting that Polanyi was himself, a Christian? In your research about him, did you find that his Christine doctrine had an impact on his writings about capitalism? I could definitely see how it might as he focused on the inherrant value of the earth and the humans who God placed here.
Laura,
I did research on his faith but it was not quite clear. So I went to ChatGPT and it was still vague.
But to your point, I definitely could see his Christian faith influencing his thoughts and writings, particularly with human and land values.
Then again, socialism definitely would have influenced his views on self-regulating markets.
Great post. This was a hard read for me. It was an even harder blog to write. You mention embedded in your post, in the church (in your opinion) should the church be embedded in the people or the people be embedded in the church?
Shonell,
Good question. I think we should be embedded in the people. I’m assuming when you say Church – you mean the organized institution and building itself. (Hope that makes sense.)
Audrey-
This is a great Scripture:
In 1 Chronicles 12:32b, “All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.” These men were from the tribe of Issachar and were explicitly designated by God to understand the chronos (chronological) and kairos (specific) times and guide Israel in the way it should go. I believe that this ability to understand the seasons and times we are in and to be able to speak to the Church and the culture is still available today.
Thank you for stating that we have hope for the church and culture today. At times I loose sight of the hope we can have. I pray, we, as leaders can have the ability to understand the times and seasons that we are in. Would there be a specific understanding that you might want to highlight, given the time and season we are in (church or nation)?