StartseiteGruppenForumMehrZeitgeist
Web-Site durchsuchen
Diese Seite verwendet Cookies für unsere Dienste, zur Verbesserung unserer Leistungen, für Analytik und (falls Sie nicht eingeloggt sind) für Werbung. Indem Sie LibraryThing nutzen, erklären Sie dass Sie unsere Nutzungsbedingungen und Datenschutzrichtlinie gelesen und verstanden haben. Die Nutzung unserer Webseite und Dienste unterliegt diesen Richtlinien und Geschäftsbedingungen.

Ergebnisse von Google Books

Auf ein Miniaturbild klicken, um zu Google Books zu gelangen.

Lädt ...

Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire

von William T. Cavanaugh

MitgliederRezensionenBeliebtheitDurchschnittliche BewertungDiskussionen
342475,145 (4.07)Keine
Should Christians be for or against the free market? For or against globalization? How are we to live in a world of scarcity? William Cavanaugh uses Christian resources to incisively address basic economic matters -- the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity -- arguing that we should not just accept these as givens but should instead change the terms of the debate.Among other things, Cavanaugh discusses how God, in the Eucharist, forms us to consume and be consumed rightly. Examining pathologies of desire in contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed puts forth a positive and inspiring vision of how the body of Christ can engage in economic alternatives. At every turn, Cavanaugh illustrates his theological analysis with concrete examples of Christian economic practices.… (mehr)
Lädt ...

Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest.

Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch.

Very well written at a popular level. Switches modes fluidly between interrogating and appropriating the likes of Balthasar and Augustine, to utilizing tangible contemporary and pop culture illustrations.

Only weakness is his drifting in and out of awareness of the nature of his own thesis, especially when engaging Milton Friedman's thought. He is never really at direct odds with Friedman, and sometimes he's aware of this, then he'll turn around and imagine a conflict where none exists.

His observations about the limitations of capitalism, the nature of our consumerist culture, and the way the Eucharist opens up a real space for an alternative, or a more specific and true sort of consumption (where progressivism can't) is brilliant.

Overall: readable, engaging, and smart. ( )
  Duffyevsky | Aug 19, 2022 |
As the stars suggest, I thought the book was "okay." Cavanaugh tackles an extremely important topic for Christians today - and arguably the most pressing issue for the American church today. He provides a handful of helpful insights on how desire, economics, and God interact. His explanation on how we become detached from production, producers, and even our products (basically all of chapter 2) is especially observant. However, I felt that he fails to provide enough substance, or practical advice on how we are to respond to the pervasive influence of consumerism on our thinking and actions. Further, I felt like he should have delved deeper into the issues of how consumerism have permeated church practices today. All in all, it was a good book with plenty to chew on, but most of what he said is fairly commonplace in the conversation on consumerism's influence. I would have liked a book that takes things to the next level. ( )
  nrt43 | Dec 29, 2020 |
Summary: An extended essay in theological reflection from a Catholic perspective on the economic realities of the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity.

There is something more than vaguely disturbing in the word consumer as it is applied to human beings. It suggests an idea of "I shop, therefore I am" and calls up reminders of the biblical warning that we risk our souls when we define our lives by the abundance of our possessions.

In a mere one hundred pages, William Cavanaugh explores four aspects of our economic activity and how Catholic theological resources might more richly inform our lives in these areas. He explores the free market, our consumer culture, the phenomenon of globalization and that of scarcity.

Each of his four chapters explores one of these issues under a pair of opposing terms:

1. Freedom and unfreedom. Moving beyond classic definitions of the free market he considers the question of the end or telos of transactions as crucial in defining freedom, drawing upon Augustine and the idea of human flourishing as critical in defining whether a transaction is truly "free."

2. Detachment and attachment. Here he explores the relation of the consumer and producer and how we are often detached from the product we are consuming. The Eucharist calls us into deeper attachment as it both consumed, and consumes us in union with Christ.

3. Global and the local considers the phenomenon of globalization and the false ideal of the many and the one that loses the individual in the global market. He draws upon the Triune God and the incarnation of Christ as God and man as well as the Catholic Church in properly modeling the life of the many and the one.

4. Scarcity and abundance discusses the basic reality of many economic transactions that assume scarcity and that some gain at the loss of others. Much of this has to do with the hunger of human beings who gain and yet want more. Once again, Cavanaugh appeals to the Eucharist and the offer of abundant life found in Christ that bids us into a culture of communion with the poor.

This is not a book on economic policy for the nations. He describes his book as "a contribution to a kind of theological microeconomics." While at points he cites examples of the inequities that result from free market economics, rather than to attack or attempt to change the structures, he commends personal and communal practices for Christians from purchasing fair trade products to Community Supported Agriculture and other efforts that connect buyers and sellers directly and the Economy of Communion Project where businesses dedicate one-third of profits to direct aid to the poor, a third to educational projects, and a third for business development.

The strength of this book is that in quite a concise way, Cavanaugh introduces those from outside that Catholic tradition to the rich body of theological resources from which one may draw in economic thinking. However, the book does seem to be short both on application, and some of the resources like a bibliography or "for further reading" other than the works cited in the text. The one merit is that most of the concrete applications come out of the author's own experiences or other existing programs rather than untested proposals.

Cavanaugh does not address how Christians might engage the larger issues of globalization and capitalist economics, and one senses his approach is actually more of a "Christ against culture" one of personal and communal economic alternatives to the system. For a somewhat different take, one might read this alongside Just Capitalism (review forthcoming) by Brent Waters, which offers a defense of economic globalization and capitalism, while being aware of its shortcomings. It seems to me that Waters addresses what it is to be in the world; Cavanaugh what it means to be not of it (cf. John 17:14-16). Since both seem to be the call of a disciple this side of eternity, then both of these voices may have important words for us. ( )
  BobonBooks | Dec 18, 2016 |
I wish ... that people living in my part of the world wouldn't be allowed to eat until they'd read and demonstrated some understanding of the fourth & final short chapter of this little book. What a difference that would make! Talk abou...t "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable!" This little gem is one of the most profound reflections I've ever seen on scarcity, consumerism and market economy. Heart-wrenching, sobering, hope-generating, true!
½ star off because chapter 3 was more abstract & confusing than helpful. ( )
  thomasbaldur | Sep 21, 2009 |
keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Du musst dich einloggen, um "Wissenswertes" zu bearbeiten.
Weitere Hilfe gibt es auf der "Wissenswertes"-Hilfe-Seite.
Gebräuchlichster Titel
Originaltitel
Alternative Titel
Ursprüngliches Erscheinungsdatum
Figuren/Charaktere
Wichtige Schauplätze
Wichtige Ereignisse
Zugehörige Filme
Epigraph (Motto/Zitat)
Widmung
Erste Worte
Zitate
Letzte Worte
Hinweis zur Identitätsklärung
Verlagslektoren
Werbezitate von
Originalsprache
Anerkannter DDC/MDS
Anerkannter LCC

Literaturhinweise zu diesem Werk aus externen Quellen.

Wikipedia auf Englisch

Keine

Should Christians be for or against the free market? For or against globalization? How are we to live in a world of scarcity? William Cavanaugh uses Christian resources to incisively address basic economic matters -- the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity -- arguing that we should not just accept these as givens but should instead change the terms of the debate.Among other things, Cavanaugh discusses how God, in the Eucharist, forms us to consume and be consumed rightly. Examining pathologies of desire in contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed puts forth a positive and inspiring vision of how the body of Christ can engage in economic alternatives. At every turn, Cavanaugh illustrates his theological analysis with concrete examples of Christian economic practices.

Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden.

Buchbeschreibung
Zusammenfassung in Haiku-Form

Aktuelle Diskussionen

Keine

Beliebte Umschlagbilder

Gespeicherte Links

Bewertung

Durchschnitt: (4.07)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 3
2.5
3 1
3.5
4 9
4.5 2
5 11

Bist das du?

Werde ein LibraryThing-Autor.

 

Über uns | Kontakt/Impressum | LibraryThing.com | Datenschutz/Nutzungsbedingungen | Hilfe/FAQs | Blog | LT-Shop | APIs | TinyCat | Nachlassbibliotheken | Vorab-Rezensenten | Wissenswertes | 203,235,400 Bücher! | Menüleiste: Immer sichtbar