Markets, morals, and religion

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2008

Markets, morals, and religion.

Ed. by Jonathan B. Imber.

Transaction Publishers

2008

249 pages

$29.95

Paperback

HB501

From two conferences at Boston U. in 2005 and 2006, 17 contributed papers offer an analysis of how contemporary market economies are shaped by moral and religious ideas and influences. Imber (ethics and sociology, Wellesley College) has brought together perspectives drawn from both Eastern and Western religions and an almost startling range of discrete examples: from the historical example of the chemical company that created Zyklon-B (the poison gas used in Nazi concentration camps) to animal welfare. The writers definitely do not share the same point of view. However, the collective result of their effort presents an intriguing look at how market economies are guided by the beliefs of those who contribute to them and are affected by them. The book does not have a subject index.

([c]20082005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)