Since the 80′s of the 20′s century, a new
economic discipline became more and more established. It’s name:
Evolutionary Economics. This is associated with the work of scientists
such as Richard R. Nelson, Sidney G. Winter, Ulrich Witt, Carsten Hermann-Pillath and Geoffrey M. Hodgson. However, the roots could be traced back to masterminds such as Thorstein Veblen, who has raised the question “Why is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science?” in 1898.
Today Evolutionary Economics is a very
heterogeneous discipline, which is confronted with the “evolutionary”
terms used by the opposing main stream of the economic science. This
raises the question for the characteristics of evolutionary thinking.
Especially in the light of the long history of scientific engagement in
the change of culture and society: What is “evolutionary thinking”? What
are the main differences to other economic disciplines? What’s the
common ground with other disciplines such as sociology, philosophy and
social anthropology, which constitutes multidisciplinarity?
