This text introduces readers to the relationship between economics and ethics and to the application of economic ethics in the evaluation of the market. The insights it provides help to develop the reasoning and analytical skills needed to criticize economic analysis as well as to apply ethical concepts to moral issues in economic policy.

The Islamic Welfare State explains the relationship between lived Islam, everyday human security, and government legitimacy in an Islamic society. Readers see the frequent abuse of Islamic injunctions by government and political parties. But readers also see the essential humanitarian spirit that makes Islam a compelling, community-strengthening faith. Readers appreciate how the humanitarian moral sentiments of Islam both provides everyday human security to millions of people and challenges legitimacy of government by allowing government to focus on protecting Islam rather than providing for the citizenry. The focus is on ground realities, on social welfare workers, and their beneficiaries, mostly patients and students from low-income families, their activities and experiences. The attention to affective politics permits the reader to understand politics and political change in Pakistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world.

The unlikely story of how Americans canonized Adam Smith as the patron saint of free markets Originally published in 1776, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations was lauded by America’s founders as a landmark work of Enlightenment thinking about national wealth, statecraft, and moral virtue. Today, Smith is one of the most influential icons of economic thought in America. Glory Liu traces how generations of Americans have read, reinterpreted, and weaponized Smith’s ideas, revealing how his popular image as a champion of American-style capitalism and free markets is a historical invention. Drawing on a trove of illuminating archival materials, Liu tells the story of how an unassuming Scottish philosopher captured the American imagination and played a leading role in shaping American economic and political ideas. She shows how Smith became known as the father of political economy in the nineteenth century and was firmly associated with free trade, and how, in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the Chicago School of Economics transformed him into the preeminent theorist of self-interest and the miracle of free markets. Liu explores how a new generation of political theorists and public intellectuals has sought to recover Smith’s original intentions and restore his reputation as a moral philosopher. Charting the enduring fascination that this humble philosopher from Scotland has held for American readers over more than two centuries, Adam Smith’s America shows how Smith continues to be a vehicle for articulating perennial moral and political anxieties about modern capitalism.

Conflicts in Western societies have been on the rise, and not just since the financial crisis of 2008. This is generally explained in economic terms - with growing disparities in wealth and income. The left should benefit from this with its redistribution philosophy. However, the right is on the upswing, even though its neoliberalism is fueling social conflicts. How is that? Behind the economic tensions lies a deep crisis of meaning. The right is exploiting this by offering simplistic set pieces of meaning. With success, because people strive for nothing so much as meaning in their own lives. The example of the USA shows how neoliberalism destroys people and societies. Possible solutions also come from there.

This ground-breaking new textbook takes a thematic approach to the history of economic thought, introducing current economic issues and examining the relevant arguments of key economists. By taking this innovative approach, the book sets these pivotal ideas in a contemporary context, helping readers to engage with the material and see the applications to today's society and economy. Based on courses developed by the authors, the text introduces a range of perspectives and encourages critical reflection upon neoclassical economics. Through exposure to a broader spectrum of sometimes conflicting propositions, readers are able to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and relevance of different economic theories. Recharting the History of Economic Thought is an invaluable companion for those taking courses in the History of Economic Thought, the Development of Economic Ideas, Developing Economic Thinking or Economic Thought and Policy. It will also appeal to anyone looking for an introduction to pluralist approaches to economics.

“Artisan” has become a buzzword in the developed world, used for items like cheese, wine, and baskets, as corporations succeed at branding their cheap, mass-produced products with the popular appeal of small-batch, handmade goods. The unforgiving realities of the artisan economy, however, never left the global south, and anthropologists have worried over the fate of resilient craftspeople as global capitalism remade their cultural and economic lives. Yet artisans are proving to be surprisingly vital players in contemporary capitalism, as they interlock innovation and tradition to create effective new forms of entrepreneurship. Based on seven years of extensive research in Colombia and Ecuador, veteran ethnographers Jason Antrosio and Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld’s Fast, Easy, and In Cash explores how small-scale production and global capitalism are not directly opposed, but rather are essential partners in economic development. Antrosio and Colloredo-Mansfeld demonstrate how artisan trades evolve in modern Latin American communities. In uncertain economies, small manufacturers have adapted to excel at home-based production, design, technological efficiency, and investments. Vivid case studies illuminate this process: peasant farmers in Túquerres, Otavalo weavers, Tigua painters, and the t-shirt industry of Atuntaqui. Fast, Easy, and In Cash exposes how these ambitious artisans, far from being holdovers from the past, are crucial for capitalist innovation in their communities and provide indispensable lessons in how we should understand and cultivate local economies in this era of globalization.

Exploitation: Perspectives from Philosophy, Politics, and Economics brings together recent scholarly work on the topic of exploitation from philosophy, political science, and economics in one volume, organised around three main questions: What is exploitation? Why is exploitation wrong? What should we do about it? The book includes contributions from both seasoned scholars and new voices, covering issues as diverse as climate change, paid plasma donation, and international justice.