Modern economics developed from the ideas of early thinkers such as Adam Smith, and is based on the idea that the economy can be studied as a separate part of society that operates according to its own laws, leaving out the larger social or political context in which markets operate.
Sociologists view markets as social institutions that are constructed in culturally specific ways. For example, markets are often controlled or organised by particular social groups or classes, and have specific connections to other institutions, social processes and structures.
