The Economy of Esteem An Essay on Civil and Political Society

by Brennan, Geoffrey; Pettit, Philip

• ISBN13: 9780199289813
• ISBN10: 0199289816
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This groundbreaking book by two distinguished scholars from different disciplines begins by outlining the psychology of esteem and the way the working of that psychology can give rise to an economy. It then shows how a variety of social patterns that are otherwise anomalous come to make a lot of sense within an economics of esteem. And it looks, finally, at the ways in which the economy of esteem may be reshaped so as to make for an improvement -- by reference to received criteria -- in overall social outcomes. While making connections with older patterns of social theorising, it offers a novel orientation for contemporary thought about how society works and how it may be made to work. It puts the economy of esteem firmly on the agenda of economic and social science and of moral and political theory.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xi
Introduction: Rediscovering the Economy of Esteem	1	(10)
PART I: TOWARDS THE ECONOMICS OF ESTEEM	11	(68)
Introduction	13	(66)
1. The Nature and Attraction of Esteem	15	(19)
2. The Demand for Esteem	34	(16)
3. The Supply of Esteem	50	(15)
4. The Economy of Esteem	65	(14)
PART II: WITHIN THE ECONOMICS OF ESTEEM	79	(162)
Introduction	81	(97)
5. A Simple Equilibrium in Performance	83	(23)
6. A More Complex Equilibrium in Performance	106	(19)
7. Multiple Equilibria and Bootstrapping Performance	125	(16)
8. Publicity and Individual Responses	141	(20)
9. Publicity and Accepted Standards	161	(17)
10. Seeking and Shunning Publicity	178	(17)
11. Voluntary Associations	195	(27)
12. Involuntary Associations	222	(19)
PART III: EXPLOITING THE ECONOMICS OF ESTEEM	241	(81)
Introduction	243	(2)
13. The Intangible Hand in Profile	245	(22)
14. The Intangible Hand in Practice	267	(22)
15. Mobilising the Intangible Hand	289	(33)
References	322	(9)
Index	331