Taking Thorstein Veblen as the author of an original system of political economy, this article explores the connections between the social context and the structure of his method and theory. Within this, two ideas take precedence: to approach the veblenian system predominately based on the introductory chapter of his 1914 book, The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of Industrial Arts, which is considered as the clearest exposure of his political economy; and, in compliance with a set of historical interpretations of his time and place, to show the structure of his methodological and theoretical proposal as a reflex of these contextual conditions.
Thorstein Veblen; Institutionalism; Gilded age; Progressive era; History of economic thought
