Households : On the Moral Architecture of the Economy

What human purpose does an economy serve? In this pathbreaking book, William James Booth examines what he calls the moral architecture of the economy—its significance in our ethical world and the influence of social values on its institutions. Turning to the most fundamental economic unit, Booth explores three basic conceptions of the household—the Aristotelian, the classic liberal, and the Marxist. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION PART ONE THE OIKOS: BEAUTY DOMINATION SCARCITY 1. Odysseus' Household 2. The Political Economy of the Ancient Household PART TWO THE MORAL ECONOMY OF THE LIBERAL HOUSEHOLD 3. Despotic and Conjugal Households 4. Lions and Pole-Cats: Domination as the Summum Malum 5. The New Body Economic: The Contract Community and Its Economy 6. Public Homes, Private Homes: Society and Economy in Classical Liberalism PART THREE MARX AND THE NEW HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY 7. The Dissolution of the Old World 8. Markets 9. The Household Economy Restored 10. Marx, Markets, and Household Economies CONCLUSION "THIS HOUSEHOLD IS WHAT IS COMMON TO US" INDEX