Greed, Lust and Gender A History of Economic Ideas

by Folbre, Nancy

• ISBN13: 9780199238422
• ISBN10: 0199238421
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

When does the pursuit of self interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behaviour? Today's economists often seem unconcerned with this question, even cheerfully suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered goodonly 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 the 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-as well as 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 thatshaped 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 vision of global economic development.

Author Biography

Nancy Folbre, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has won international recognition for her research on the interface between feminist theory and political economy. Her empirical research focuses on the amount and value of time devoted to care of dependents. She has recently published Valuing Children: Rethinking the Economics of the Family (Harvard University Press, 2008), and co-edited Family Time: The Social Organization of Care (Routledge, 2004). She has written several books for a broad audience, including The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values (New Press, 2001) and four editions of the popular Field Guide to the U.S. Economy. A recipient of a five-year fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation, she is also a Charlotte Perkins Gilman Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, a past president of the International Association for Feminist Economics and an Associate Editor of the journal Feminist Economics.

Table of Contents

Epigraph	p. xvii
Introduction	p. xix
The Eye of the Needle	p. 1
Liberation	p. 2
Damnation	p. 4
Patriarchal Feudalism	p. 5
The Growth of Markets	p. 7
Patriarchal Ideology	p. 8
Markets and Mentalités	p. 11
Regulation	p. 13
The Springs of Desire	p. 18
The Commonwealth of Fathers	p. 19
Patriarchy Defended	p. 21
Patriarchy Modified	p. 22
A Supremacy to Themselves	p. 25
(Re)production	p. 27
Sexual Efficiency	p. 29
Contractual Power	p. 30
Defining Virtues	p. 35
The Ancient Regime	p. 36
Age and Gender, Love and Sex	p. 38
The Rebellion of the Harem	p. 39
The Climate of Reason	p. 41
Self, Love, God, and Nature	p. 43
Commerce and Virtue	p. 44
Human Nature	p. 45
Free Trade but Not Free Love	p. 49
Humanism	p. 50
Selfishness Celebrated	p. 51
Sexual Regulation	p. 54
Love Thyself	p. 55
The Butcher, the Baker, and the Wife	p. 58
The Balance	p. 61
The Limits of Affection	p. 67
Sweet Commerce	p. 68
The Fraternal Compromise	p. 70
Slavery and Evil	p. 72
Feminism and Abolition	p. 75
Observers from Abroad	p. 77
Democracy in America	p. 78
The Perfectibility of Man	p. 84
Progress?	p. 85
Of Bread and Cake	p. 88
Interests and the Revolution	p. 89
Malevolence Theorized	p. 93
Timid Egoism	p. 95
The Greatest Happiness	p. 99
Chivalry versus Calculation	p. 100
The Vindication	p. 101
GodwinÆs Enquiry	p. 103
The Greatest Good	p. 105
Gendered Virtues	p. 108
Self-love, Triumphant	p. 111
Poor Relief	p. 112
The Essay on Population	p. 113
Against Benevolence	p. 116
The Improper Arts	p. 117
Malthus and Women	p. 120
Enlightenment Redux	p. 121
Production and Reproduction	p. 125
Patriarchal Capitalism	p. 126
The Rise of Individual Occupations	p. 128
The Labor Theory of Value	p. 130
Child Labor and the Poor Laws	p. 132
Fertility and Out-of-Wedlock Births	p. 134
The Wages of Virtue	p. 135
Family Disruptions	p. 138
Whose Wealth?	p. 143
Wealth Demoralized	p. 144
The Limits to Growth	p. 145
Collective Interests	p. 147
The Corn Laws	p. 149
Free Trade	p. 150
Protectionism	p. 152
Selfish Classes	p. 154
The Social Family	p. 158
The Social Father	p. 159
The Great Dream	p. 161
Class and Gender	p. 163
OwenÆs Economics	p. 164
The Appeal of One-Half the Human Race	p. 165
Feminist Socialism	p. 167
Utopian and Scientific	p. 169
Equal Opportunities	p. 174
Napoleonic Code	p. 175
Secular Humanism	p. 176
The Sexual Radicals	p. 177
Le Tribune des Femmes	p. 179
The Calculus of Harmony	p. 180
The Sexual Welfare State	p. 182
Brook Farm	p. 184
Crazy Attempts	p. 186
The Subjection of Women	p. 190
The Partnership	p. 191
The Subjection of Women	p. 195
Political Activism	p. 198
A Fundamental Question	p. 201
Declaring Independence	p. 205
Peculiar Institutions	p. 206
Equality and Difference	p. 208
Collective Interests	p. 211
The Economic Significance of Family Work	p. 212
Divorce and Reproductive Rights	p. 214
Balancing Acts	p. 217
The Icy Waters	p. 222
Revolutions	p. 223
Scientific Self-Interest	p. 225
The Holy Family	p. 226
The Response to Bebel	p. 227
Bebel and Social Democracy	p. 229
The Survival of the Altruistic	p. 230
The Free Development of All	p. 232
The Sacred Sphere	p. 235
Domestic Advice	p. 236
The Meaning of Motherhood	p. 238
Neoclassical Altruism	p. 239
WomenÆs Duties	p. 243
Virtue and Consequences	p. 247
The Unproductive Housewife	p. 251
Counting Workers	p. 252
The U.S. and Massachusetts Censuses	p. 253
A Double Bind	p. 256
Home Economics and Household Production	p. 258
National Income and the Value of Labor Services	p. 260
The Meaning of the Adjectives	p. 263
The Nanny State	p. 268
Fear of Fertility Decline	p. 269
The Family Wage	p. 270
The Fabians	p. 271
The Endowment of Motherhood	p. 274
Minimum Wages for Women in the U.S.	p. 276
Birth Control	p. 278
Sleeping Beauty Awakes	p. 279
The Glorious Unfolding	p. 281
Public Support and Reproductive Rights	p. 282
Human Capitalism	p. 287
Social Welfare	p. 288
The Opposite Reaction	p. 290
Everyone a Capitalist	p. 293
Capitalizing Humans	p. 295
The Altruistic Family	p. 297
Families, Gender Inequality, and the State	p. 299
The Third Realm	p. 301
Beyond Economic Man	p. 305
The Waves	p. 306
Feminist Economics	p. 307
Motivations	p. 308
Markets and Non-Markets	p. 310
The Costs of Care	p. 311
Gender Norms	p. 312
Fairness, Reciprocity, and Care	p. 315
Gross National Happiness	p. 316
Rational and Caring People	p. 318
Conclusion	p. 324
Bibliography	p. 329
Index	p. 373
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