Review article
https://doi.org/10.17559/JF-2026010000020
NIHILISM IN ECONOMIC THOUGHT: A STRUCTURED LITERATURE REVIEW AND BIBLIOMETRIC MAPPING
Domagoj Sajter
orcid.org/0000-0001-5492-3570
; Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Gajev trg 7, Osijek,
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The concept of nihilism has a longstanding presence in economic thought—from early moral critiques of political economy to Marxian and Weberian reflections on capitalist disillusionment, and debates on neoclassical value neutrality. Contemporary discussions on consumerism and neoliberalism have renewed concerns that economics risks becoming ethically hollow. Yet systematic analyses of nihilism in economics remain limited.
This article offers a structured review of how nihilism has been expressed and critiqued across economic traditions, complemented by bibliometric mapping of its diffusion in related scholarship. Combining thematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, searches for “nihilism” were conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, and Dimensions.ai within business, management, and economics. Data were processed in VOSviewer to visualize term co-occurrences.
Findings reveal enduring tensions between economic rationality and meaning, from 19th‑century moral critiques to contemporary “neonihilism.” Bibliometric clusters show philosophical, legal, and applied strands, and a shift toward empirical and impact-oriented research. The study contributes a typology of nihilism in economics, traces its historical and conceptual evolution, and establishes a reproducible baseline for future inquiry into the ethical and humanistic dimensions of economic thought.
Keywords
bibliometrics; economics; economic thought; nihilism
Hrčak ID:
343906
URI
Publication date:
30.1.2026.
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