La Part maudite Un « Non Savoir » économique ?

This article explores the very limited interest in La Part maudite by professional economists despite the fact that Bataille considered this book to be a work on “political economics”. Was he just trying to provoke or should this be taken seriously ? What is the substance of this book ? The argumentation is based on the epistemological dispute revealed by the exchange between Bataille and François Perroux – the only economist to have debated this issue with the author during his lifetime.