Greed, Lust and Gender : A History of Economic Ideas

When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behavior? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others. This book brings women's work, their sexuality, and their ideas into the center of the dialectic between economic history and the history of economic ideas. It describes a spiralling process of economic and cultural change in Great Britain, France, and the United States since the 18th century that shaped the evolution of patriarchal capitalism and the larger relationship between production and reproduction. This feminist reinterpretation of our past holds profound implications for today's efforts to develop a more humane and sustainable form of capitalism. Table of Contents......Page 12 Epigraph......Page 18 Introduction......Page 20 1. The Eye of the Needle......Page 36 Liberation......Page 37 Damnation......Page 39 Patriarchal Feudalism......Page 40 The Growth of Markets......Page 42 Patriarchal Ideology......Page 43 Markets and Mentalités......Page 46 Regulation......Page 48 2. The Springs of Desire......Page 53 The Commonwealth of Fathers......Page 54 Patriarchy Defended......Page 56 Patriarchy Modified......Page 57 A Supremacy to Themselves......Page 60 (Re)production......Page 62 Sexual Efficiency......Page 64 Contractual Power......Page 65 3. Defining Virtues......Page 70 The Ancient Regime......Page 71 Age and Gender, Love and Sex......Page 73 The Rebellion of the Harem......Page 74 The Climate of Reason......Page 76 Self, Love, God, and Nature......Page 78 Commerce and Virtue......Page 79 Human Nature......Page 80 4. Free Trade but Not Free Love......Page 84 Humanism......Page 85 Selfishness Celebrated......Page 86 Sexual Regulation......Page 89 Love Thyself......Page 90 The Butcher, the Baker, and the Wife......Page 93 The Balance......Page 96 5. The Limits of Affection......Page 102 Sweet Commerce......Page 103 The Fraternal Compromise......Page 105 Slavery and Evil......Page 107 Feminism and Abolition......Page 110 Observers from Abroad......Page 112 Democracy in America......Page 113 6. The Perfectibility of Man......Page 119 Progress?......Page 120 Of Bread and Cake......Page 123 Interests and the Revolution......Page 124 Malevolence Theorized......Page 128 Timid Egoism......Page 130 7. The Greatest Happiness......Page 134 Chivalry versus Calculation......Page 135 The Vindication......Page 136 Godwin’s Enquiry......Page 138 The Greatest Good......Page 140 Gendered Virtues......Page 143 8. Self-love, Triumphant......Page 146 Poor Relief......Page 147 The Essay on Population......Page 148 Against Benevolence......Page 151 The Improper Arts......Page 152 Malthus and Women......Page 155 Enlightenment Redux......Page 156 9. Production and Reproduction......Page 160 Patriarchal Capitalism......Page 161 The Rise of Individual Occupations......Page 163 The Labor Theory of Value......Page 165 Child Labor and the Poor Laws......Page 167 Fertility and Out-of-Wedlock Births......Page 169 The Wages of Virtue......Page 170 Family Disruptions......Page 173 10. Whose Wealth?......Page 178 Wealth Demoralized......Page 179 The Limits to Growth......Page 180 Collective Interests......Page 182 The Corn Laws......Page 184 Free Trade......Page 185 Protectionism......Page 187 Selfish Classes......Page 189 11. The Social Family......Page 193 The Social Father......Page 194 The Great Dream......Page 196 Class and Gender......Page 198 Owen’s Economics......Page 199 The Appeal of One-Half the Human Race......Page 200 Feminist Socialism......Page 202 Utopian and Scientific......Page 204 12. Equal Opportunities......Page 209 Napoleonic Code......Page 210 Secular Humanism......Page 211 The Sexual Radicals......Page 212 Le Tribune des Femmes......Page 214 The Calculus of Harmony......Page 215 The Sexual Welfare State......Page 217 Brook Farm......Page 219 Crazy Attempts......Page 221 13. The Subjection of Women......Page 225 The Partnership......Page 226 The Subjection of Women......Page 230 Political Activism......Page 233 A Fundamental Question......Page 236 14. Declaring Independence......Page 240 Peculiar Institutions......Page 241 Equality and Difference......Page 243 Collective Interests......Page 246 The Economic Significance of Family Work......Page 247 Divorce and Reproductive Rights......Page 249 Balancing Acts......Page 252 15. The Icy Waters......Page 257 Revolutions......Page 258 Scientific Self-Interest......Page 260 The Holy Family......Page 261 The Response to Bebel......Page 262 Bebel and Social Democracy......Page 264 The Survival of the Altruistic......Page 265 The Free Development of All......Page 267 16. The Sacred Sphere......Page 270 Domestic Advice......Page 271 The Meaning of Motherhood......Page 273 Neoclassical Altruism......Page 274 Women’s Duties......Page 278 Virtue and Consequences......Page 282 17. The Unproductive Housewife......Page 286 Counting Workers......Page 287 The U.S. and Massachusetts Censuses......Page 288 A Double Bind......Page 291 Home Economics and Household Production......Page 293 National Income and the Value of Labor Services......Page 295 The Meaning of the Adjectives......Page 298 18. The Nanny State......Page 303 Fear of Fertility Decline......Page 304 The Family Wage......Page 305 The Fabians......Page 306 The Endowment of Motherhood......Page 309 Minimum Wages for Women in the U.S.......Page 311 Birth Control......Page 313 Sleeping Beauty Awakes......Page 314 The Glorious Unfolding......Page 316 Public Support and Reproductive Rights......Page 317 19. Human Capitalism......Page 322 Social Welfare......Page 323 The Opposite Reaction......Page 325 Everyone a Capitalist......Page 328 Capitalizing Humans......Page 330 The Altruistic Family......Page 332 Families, Gender Inequality, and the State......Page 334 The Third Realm......Page 336 20. Beyond Economic Man......Page 340 The Waves......Page 341 Feminist Economics......Page 342 Motivations......Page 343 Markets and Non-Markets......Page 345 The Costs of Care......Page 346 Gender Norms......Page 347 Fairness, Reciprocity, and Care......Page 350 Gross National Happiness......Page 351 Rational and Caring People......Page 353 Conclusion......Page 359 Bibliography......Page 364 C......Page 408 F......Page 409 I......Page 410 M......Page 411 S......Page 412 T......Page 413 W......Page 414 When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behaviour? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that'greed is good.'A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others. This book brings women's work, their sexuality, and their ideas into the center of the dialectic between economic history and the history of economic ideas. It describes a spiralling process of economic and cultural change in Great Britain, France, and the United States since the 18th century that shaped the evolution of patriarchal capitalism and the larger relationship between production and reproduction. This feminist reinterpretation of our past holds profound implications for today's efforts to develop a more humane and sustainable form of capitalism. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. This book brings women's work, their sexuality, and their ideas, into the center of the dialectic between economic history and the history of economic ideas.--[book jacket]