Lay Economic Knowledge: An Empirical Study

Even not being the economists by vocation, laypeople – being the consumers, the taxpayers, or the employees – form their own opinions about the economic institutions and processes based on individual engagement with them. The casual economic theorization by lay actors can shape the political and economic landscape, as everybody witnessed during the GameStop cause in the USA, or the Gilets Jaunes movement in France. This lecture will present an insight into the topic of the lay economic thinking process. It is based on a qualitative study conducted in Ukraine, which was designed specifically to obtain the data about how the statements about the economy are posed, argued upon, and legitimized by lay individuals in everyday settings. The model of economic knowledge was developed according to the guidelines of the grounded theory approach. At the same time, the research’s findings draw upon and complement the sociological theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Jurgen Habermas, equally as the contemporary studies in economic psychology.

Maksym Kolomoiets is a doctoral candidate at Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. His research interests include various topics in economic sociology, such as platform economy, sociology of trust, and sociology of common sense.

The seminar will take place in English in person in the meeting room, there is no need to register in advance.