When a handful of people thrive while whole industries implode and millions suffer, it is clear that something is wrong with our economy. The wealth of the few is disconnected from the misery of the many. In Civilizing the Economy, Marvin Brown traces the origin of this economics of dissociation to early capitalism, showing how this is illustrated in Adam Smith's denial of the central role of slavery in wealth creation. In place of the Smithian economics of property, Brown proposes that we turn to the original meaning of economics as household management. He presents a new framework for the global economy that reframes its purpose as the making of provisions instead of the accumulation of property. This bold new vision establishes the civic sphere as the platform for organizing an inclusive economy and as a way to move toward a more just and sustainable world.
Civilizing the Economy
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"As we humans puzzle our way to an understanding of how to live sustainably within Earth's carrying capacity, Marvin Brown has provided a crucial piece of the puzzle. Civilizing the Economy is an important book because it expresses a keystone idea of the new economic system that must evolve if our species is to survive and live up to its potential."
Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman, Interface, Inc.
"Marvin Brown's intriguing argument sets out a compelling roadmap for directing the World's economy at this critical stage of human history. Instead of turning toward disparate, atomic strategies (such as property maximization at any cost), Brown steers us toward a holistic strategy that combines environmental sustainability, corporate responsibility (broadly conceived to include ethical and humanitarian concerns), and real economic development that will provide for all the peoples of the world. The property v. provision paradigm is a foundational discussion that will both stimulate scholars as well as prompt constructive classroom debate."
Michael Boylan, Professor of Philosophy, Marymount University
"In the current debate about the future of capitalism, Marvin Brown provides essential benchmarks to separate the wheat from the chaff in moving toward a civilized economy. His provocative and well-argued vision not only criticizes the dominant role of property in capitalism but also ventures into a novel design of economics, 'the economics of provision,' which values economic activity over economic possessions. Moreover, against the 'economization' of society, he vigorously places economic activity within the frame of a civic agenda, giving a balanced account of both economic and civic demands and limitations. This book is a must-read in redefining capitalism."
Georges Enderle, John T. Ryan, Jr. Professor of International Business Ethics, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
"This book is a must-read for all of us who believe we must change our operating economic paradigms, and a foreshadowing of the dire consequences for all of us if we don't. Marvin Brown offers us a new economic path - a theory of provisions morally trumping property - which if followed might just lead us to the true meaning of civilization."
W. Michael Hoffman, PhD., Executive Director, Center for Business Ethics, and Hieken Professor of Business and Professional Ethics, Bentley University
"In this profound and courageous book, Marvin Brown asks the question that moral philosophers and political economists have pondered since Socrates: What is a just society? In a spirit similar to E.F. Schumacher's 'economics as if people mattered,' he limns a bold, fresh, and scholarly vision of a new, 'civilized' economic order with a fairer distribution of income, wealth, and goods."
James O'Toole, Daniels Distinguished Professor of Business Ethics, University of Denver
"Marvin Brown offers a creative new perspective on the economy, much needed in the face of two global crises - climate change and the economic collapse of 2008 - that highlights the flaws of current economic thinking. This creative approach will stimulate, provoke, and, hopefully, move the conversation about what economy should look like in the future forward."
Sandra Waddock, Galligan Chair of Strategy, Boston College
Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman, Interface, Inc.
"Marvin Brown's intriguing argument sets out a compelling roadmap for directing the World's economy at this critical stage of human history. Instead of turning toward disparate, atomic strategies (such as property maximization at any cost), Brown steers us toward a holistic strategy that combines environmental sustainability, corporate responsibility (broadly conceived to include ethical and humanitarian concerns), and real economic development that will provide for all the peoples of the world. The property v. provision paradigm is a foundational discussion that will both stimulate scholars as well as prompt constructive classroom debate."
Michael Boylan, Professor of Philosophy, Marymount University
"In the current debate about the future of capitalism, Marvin Brown provides essential benchmarks to separate the wheat from the chaff in moving toward a civilized economy. His provocative and well-argued vision not only criticizes the dominant role of property in capitalism but also ventures into a novel design of economics, 'the economics of provision,' which values economic activity over economic possessions. Moreover, against the 'economization' of society, he vigorously places economic activity within the frame of a civic agenda, giving a balanced account of both economic and civic demands and limitations. This book is a must-read in redefining capitalism."
Georges Enderle, John T. Ryan, Jr. Professor of International Business Ethics, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
"This book is a must-read for all of us who believe we must change our operating economic paradigms, and a foreshadowing of the dire consequences for all of us if we don't. Marvin Brown offers us a new economic path - a theory of provisions morally trumping property - which if followed might just lead us to the true meaning of civilization."
W. Michael Hoffman, PhD., Executive Director, Center for Business Ethics, and Hieken Professor of Business and Professional Ethics, Bentley University
"In this profound and courageous book, Marvin Brown asks the question that moral philosophers and political economists have pondered since Socrates: What is a just society? In a spirit similar to E.F. Schumacher's 'economics as if people mattered,' he limns a bold, fresh, and scholarly vision of a new, 'civilized' economic order with a fairer distribution of income, wealth, and goods."
James O'Toole, Daniels Distinguished Professor of Business Ethics, University of Denver
"Marvin Brown offers a creative new perspective on the economy, much needed in the face of two global crises - climate change and the economic collapse of 2008 - that highlights the flaws of current economic thinking. This creative approach will stimulate, provoke, and, hopefully, move the conversation about what economy should look like in the future forward."
Sandra Waddock, Galligan Chair of Strategy, Boston College
Book Description
When a handful of people thrive while whole industries implode and millions suffer, it is clear that something is wrong with our economy. This book presents a bold new way of thinking about the economy based on the making of provisions rather than the accumulation of property.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
For 30 years, Marvin Brown has been interpreting the business and society relationship from a communicative perspective. His work has broadened from a concern with justice and representation in the workplace to issues of sustainability and democracy. He teaches business and organizational ethics in the Philosophy Department at the University of San Francisco and in the Organizational Systems program at Saybrook University in San Francisco. Choice awarded his book, Corporate Integrity, Outstanding Academic Title 2006. His book, Civilizing the Economy, provides a way out of our economic mess.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Answering the mystery,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Civilizing the Economy: A New Economics of Provision (Paperback)
I always wondered why Capitalism was so cruel to the very people who make it work. Dr. Brown answers that both from historical and contemporary perspectives. Why did Adam Smith hedge the truth? What single difference could turn a heartless Capitalism into a meaningful social endeavor? All this and more in a book I found so interesting and well written I could hardly put it down. The most realistic alternative to the challenges of today that I have read. Civilizing the Economy: A New Economics of Provision
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humanizing Capitalism,
By John Renesch - "The Great Growing Up"... (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Civilizing the Economy: A New Economics of Provision (Paperback)
Perhaps a more telling subtitle for this book would be "humanizing capitalism" for this is what the author is calling for - bringing the most powerful man-made social system in the world (economics) into alignment with people instead of property. Socialism and capitalism in their present forms are both set in contexts of materialism. The true "third way" for an economic system would be one founded on life and living things (what the author calls "provision") rather than on the material alone. Hat's off to the author who offers a powerful blueprint for a more just and sustainable economics.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
