POLITICAL-CULTURE AND POLITICAL-ECONOMY - INTEREST, IDEOLOGY AND FREE-TRADE

This article explores the significance of ideas, values and collective representations in shaping political economy by examining the case of free trade in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Its aim is to tie a historical perspective on the importance of political culture to th e current methodological debate about political economy in the social sciences. The opening critique of sectoral approaches is used to move the focus from material interests and economistic method to cultural s ignificance and the interpretative framework underlying free trade. Sh ifting the attention to the knowledge of historical actors themselves reveals the formative role of ideology, historical memory and politica l language in constructing free trade as a collective good. Free trade was associated with a historical vision of national identity and soci etal self-development, and a moral ideal of the consumer, rather than with free market capitalism. The discussion concludes with some genera l thoughts on the importance of giving greater attention to political culture in the study of political economy.