W.E.B. Du Bois and Thorstein Veblen employed the concept of relative position. Du Bois’s thinking reflects how for Stratification economics people’s relative positions explain racial discrimination and segregation. Veblen’s reflects how for Institutionalist economics people’s relative positions explain the role institutions have in the evolution of the economy. Racism in the United States marginalized Du Bois’s contributions, leaving a divide between his and Veblen’s thinking and also between Stratification economics and Institutionalist economics. This has limited the perceived importance of the concept of relative position in economics, leaving it with the “position-less” asocial individualism of Neoclassical-mainstream economics. This article compares Du Bois’s and Veblen’s conceptions of the concept of relative position and discusses the potential common ground it creates for Stratification economics and Institutionalist economics.
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