Gabriel Tarde's Psychologie économique, the last work he published, in 1902, which was never translated into English, did not arouse as much interest or debate as his earlier Laws of Imitation, originally published in 1890. The various studies made since on the work of Gabriel Tarde do not dwell on its contents in any great depth, with the notable exception of a study published by Robert Leroux (2011), which gives an excellent account of its main thrust (75– 85). After a long period of apparent neglect, “rediscoveries” of Tarde's last work have recently emerged—for example, from Maurizio Lazzarato (2002), then from Bruno Latour and Vincent Antonin Lépinay (2008), who included it in an “anthology of economics.” The aim of this chapter is to review the different readings of the work, first of all, before returning to the text itself to discuss some of the main themes to which it owes its originality.

Different Readings of Tarde's Last Work

At the time of its publication, Tarde's Psychologie économique, based on his lectures on Economic Psychology given in 1900– 1901 at the Collège de France, mainly drew comment in four articles. None was particularly complimentary: What value could there be in delving into the psychology of producers and consumers whose actions are rational? (Eugène D'Eichthal 1902); although “ingenious” views are expressed, the work as a whole is inadequately informed (Simiand 1903); Gaston Richard's contribution (1902), although much more favorable, nevertheless expresses reservations prompted in particular by the idea of an overly psychological, or even psychiatric, vision of society; Ernest Mahaim (1903) made similar observations on “Mr. Tarde's political economics.” After the death of the author of The Laws of Imitation, Célestin Bouglé (1905) was not particularly drawn to the ideas developed in the two volumes of the 1902 text, any more than René Worms (1905) or Lionel Dauriac (1906). Alfred Espinas, in his Notice sur la vie et les oeuvres de M. Gabriel de Tarde (1910), expressed more interest in those ideas, although he gives them only secondary importance in relation to Tarde's previous works.

The rather short shrift given to Tarde's Psychologie économique at the time is evident from the first published work on “Gabriel Tarde's social psychology” (1910).