Around the Web this Week

Here is a look at some news stories from around the web this week:

“Religion and the Morality of the Market” (Rudnyckyj & Osella, eds.)

In April, Cambridge University Press will release Religion and the Morality of the Market edited by Daromir Rudnyckyj (University of Victoria, British Columbia) and Filippo Osella (University of Sussex). The publisher’s description follows:

Religion and the Morality of the MarketSince the collapse of the Berlin Wall, there has been a widespread affirmation of economic ideologies that conceive the market as an autonomous sphere of human practice, holding that market principles should be applied to human action at large. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the ascendance of market reason has been countered by calls for reforms of financial markets and for the consideration of moral values in economic practice. This book intervenes in these debates by showing how neoliberal market practices engender new forms of religiosity, and how religiosity shapes economic actions. It reveals how religious movements and organizations have reacted to the increasing prominence of market reason in unpredictable, and sometimes counterintuitive, ways. Using a range of examples from different countries and religious traditions, the book illustrates the myriad ways in which religious and market moralities are closely imbricated in diverse global contexts.

  • Allows for an exploration and theorization of economic practice through the lenses of the cultures and social relations in which it is embedded
  • Furthers the theorization and comparative analysis of the relations of distinct forms of morality and religion to economies
  • Provides a comparative framework for understanding how market practices and ideologies articulate with specific forms of religiosity or religious traditions

Manseau, “Objects of Devotion”

In May, Penguin Random House will release Objects of Devotion: Religion in Early America by Peter Manseau (Curator of American Religious History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History). The publisher’s description follows: