道德經濟在消費社會中還有機會嗎？一個實質與形式分析雙軌並進的理論重構

Does Moral Economy Have A Chance in Consumer Society? A Proposal to Reconfigure Theory Beyond the Substantive/Formal Dichotomy

在Polanyi批判的鑲嵌視野下，道德經濟一直是與主流經濟學相抗詰的重要研究傳統。本文認為它最有力的貢獻在於，提供市場經濟的核心衝突一個以倫理認知轉換為中介的因果解釋；具體而言，揭櫫常民如何在經濟衝突中看穿「自律市場」的不義，繼而發出以社群倫理為本的抗爭。然而就在大量的消費衝突展示了（即便在高度個體化的消費社會中），倫理感知作為抗爭動力的持續存在，道德經濟因自縛於「實質VS.形式」爭議中的實質論立場，卻逐漸失去與此當代經濟核心衝突的關連性。另一面，主流經濟學的霸權卻已跨過形式分析，藉著以對價的交易理性為本的實質倫理框架來掩蓋、模糊、甚至扭曲消費者的社群倫理訴求。對此，本文提出一個符合道德經濟初衷與優勢的理論重構提案：（1）在後設的道德視域中擺置道德人的理論先設；（2）確認「交易理性」作為一規範聲稱的實質認知架構；（3）發展足以與「交易理性」並置觀察兩者間折衝動態的「社群倫理」形式表述。我們藉著重訪Scott道德經濟經典著作，展示實質與形式分析雙軌並進如何早是道德分析的優良傳統。此提案將使得道德經濟在「消費如何由不滿轉轍至抗爭」的關鍵課題上發揮其聚焦倫理認知轉換的分析優勢，並藉著填補Miller的日常化商品消費與Barnett的政治化倫理消費間的消費研究文獻缺口，重新介入此當代經濟衝突的核心。本文最後延伸演繹此重構提案，透過連結商品在質價分布平面上的位置與市場競爭的不同效應，展示其與主流經濟學的新衝突觀點間針鋒相對的抗詰潛力。「倫理在消費社會中還有機會嗎？」Bauman對此自問的悲觀回答固然充滿理論魅力，卻無法準確回應消費不滿與抗爭風起雲湧的現實。如果道德經濟繼續堅持「去鑲嵌的個體化市場中沒有倫理感知的存在空間」，那它確實將失去參與當代關鍵戰役的機會。本文希望證明，慶幸的是，道德經濟可以不必付出那樣的代價。

Though theoretically charming, Bauman's pessimistic answer to the question, 'Does ethics have a chance in a world of consumers?' fails to explain widespread global conflicts that are triggered by ethical concerns of consumers. Instead, Miller and Barnett's empirical researches, both based on the assumption that economic actors are consistently moral beyond specific contexts, support a better grasp of these phenomena. However, the liminal status between Miller's 'ordinary consumption' and Barnett's 'politicized consumption' remains under-explained, which unfortunately weakens an alternative vision of moral consumption against the neo-liberal establishment. In this paper we argue that here is exactly where moral economy could play a critical role in contemporary debates. However, to build on this potential, the standard moral economy framework requires three theoretical adjustments. This theoretical reconfiguration will also help to embed moral economy in an updated family of literature that improves its inner consistency and external validity. We end the article by demonstrating how a deductive extension of this updated framework supports moral economy to re-engage in controversies involving contemporary consumer conflicts.