Simon Patten's Contributions to the Institutionalist View of Abundance

Abstract

This article highlights Simon Patten's contributions to the institutionalist method and view of abundance. It illustrates Patten's role in the cross-fertilization between early institutionalists and the German Historicists. Patten's views on the societal transition to abundance, the method of social inquiry, and the role of social scientists are re-examined in light of the current exigencies of a climate-constrained, post-industrial economy. The policy implications that emerge from Patten's rejection of the presumption of scarcity are examined in a contemporary context. The article suggests that the historical and evolutionary approach that Patten fostered among institutionalists is essential to the identification and implementation of the socio-economic reform requisite of an age of abundance.