Beyond the social contract : an anthropology of tax

"Tax and taxation are conventionally understood as the embodiment of social contract. This ground-breaking collection of essays challenges this truism, examining what tax might tell us about the limits of social-contract thinking. The contributors shed light on contemporary fiscal structures and public debates about the moralities, practices, and imaginaries of tax systems, using tax to explore the nature of citizenship, personal freedom, and moral and economic value. Their ethnographically grounded accounts show how taxation may be influenced by spaces of fiscal sovereignty that exist outside or alongside the state, taking various forms, from alternative religious communities to economic collectives"-- Provided by publisher

Tax and taxation are conventionally understood as the embodimentof social contract. This ground-breaking collection of essayschallenges this truism, examining what tax might tell us about thelimits of social-contract thinking. The contributors shed light oncontemporary fiscal structures and public debates about themoralities, practices, and imaginaries of tax systems, using tax toexplore the nature of citizenship, personal freedom, and moral andeconomic value. Their ethnographically grounded accounts show howtaxation may be influenced by spaces of fiscal sovereignty thatexist outside or alongside the state, taking various forms, fromalternative religious communities to economic collectives.