Modern orthodox neoclassical economics, as we shall also see, holds that the sole and legitimate theoretical subject matter of economics is 'the' market, and not the underlying social structures of a market economy. The latter belongs to the domain of sociology. Economics is about markets, while sociology is about social structures.
However, as we shall also see, 'markets' don't exist outside of society, which consequently means they don't exist independently of their 'social structures'. This would be like suggesting a heart for example could exist independently of the body. What a heart is and what it does is dependent upon its internal relations with other parts (or organs) of the body. Similarly, what a market is and how it functions is dependent upon its internal connections with the social structural parts of the overall body of society.
This is a very Marxian view of things, which has its philosophical roots in the 'dialectical' way of thinking about the world, as found in Hegel's philosophy. The short of it is: you can't look at the different parts of the whole as if they're independent of one another; you have to look at them being interconnected and shaping each other. A human body, for instance, is the sum of all its parts. Similarly, society is also the sum of all its parts. Remove any of its parts, it ceases to be what it is - ie, it ceases to be that particular thing.
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