The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Pope Benedict XVI's Social Encyclical and the Future of Political Economy
Ebook
Overview
This collection of essays outlines a new political economy. Twenty years after the demise of Soviet communism, the global recession into which free-market capitalism has plunged the world economy provides a unique opportunity to chart an alternative path. Both the left-wing adulation of centralized statism and the right-wing fetishization of market liberalism are part of a secular logic that is collapsing under the weight of its own inner contradictions. It is surely no coincidence that the crisis of global capitalism occurs at the same time as the crisis of secular modernity. Building on the tradition of Catholic social teaching since the groundbreaking encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), Pope Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate is the most radical intervention in contemporary debates on the future of economics, politics, and society. Benedict outlines a Catholic "third way" that combines strict limits on state and market power with a civil economy centered on mutualist businesses, cooperatives, credit unions, and other reciprocal arrangements. His call for a civil economy also represents a radical "middle" position between an exclusively religious and a strictly secular perspective. Thus, Benedict's vision for an alternative political economy resonates with people of all faiths and none.
"The current economic crisis is in fact a deeper crisis of
cultural imagination and civilizational ethics. This collection of
bold and provocative readings of Caritas in Veritate displays an
intellectual verve unafraid to think beyond the fragmentations of
modernity. By fully exploring the ontology of communion and gift, I
believe this collection bears witness to the kind of daring
discourse Pope Benedict XVI wanted to ignite. What is more, I
believe the essays exemplify the kind of fruitful dialogue needed,
not only for an adequate response to the crisis of Western
civilization, but also to realize an economy that would facilitate
the flourishing of the human heart. Adrian Pabst is to be commended
for realizing this collection of excellent essays."
-Javier Martinez Fernandez
Archbishop of Granada
"Anyone interested in finding a 'third way' between today's barely
regulated capitalism and state socialism will find much to reward
them in this collection. It goes beyond the rigid limitations of
contemporary liberal thinking in order to explore some of the
crucial resources, intellectual and cultural, that we need to
devise a new politics of the Left."
-Charles Taylor
author of A Secular Age
"Caritas in Veritate is the first papal encyclical that addresses
issues immediately relevant for economic and social theory. It also
embodies challenges that concern directly the academic community of
economists, in particular the nature and scope of the firm, the
market and profit. The reading of this important book is the best
way for engaging with these themes and discovering the significance
of Caritas in Veritate in the present theoretical debate."
-Luigino Bruni
co-author of Civil Economy
"This collection of essays addresses a key challenge for anyone
trying to think clearly about economics: how to dig out from under
the intellectual rubble created by the failure of conventional
economic theories. The proposed answers vary but there is a common
and welcome effort to think philosophically, about both the
foundations of the economic order and the detailed and failed
arrangements of finance. Particularly serious attention is paid to
the great challenge posed by Pope Benedict XVI - to integrate
'quotas of gratuitousness and communion' into economic activity.
This book's breadth of views and the depth of analysis make it a
rewarding read for anyone trying to understand and improve the
modern industrial economy."
-Edward Hadas
author of Human Goods, Economic Evils
"This book provides a compelling intellectual engagement with the
vision of an alternative civil economy proposed in Caritas in
Veritate. The diverse essays collected in this book marshal
Anglican and Roman Catholic social thought in service of a bold
account of a progressive moral economy rooted in a transcendent
common good. It will be essential reading for those interested in
the increasingly cogent argument that religious reason is an
indispensable resource for the remoralizing of economic
life."
-Anna Rowlands
co-editor of Pathways to the Public Square
Product Details
- Title : The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Pope Benedict XVI's Social Encyclical and the Future of Political Economy
- Author: Pabst, Adrian
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2011
- ISBN: 9781621891055
Adrian Pabst is Senior Lecturer of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent, UK, and Associate Editor of Telos. His research is at the interstice of political thought, political economy, and political theology. He is the author of Metaphysics: The Creation of Hierarchy (2012), editor of The Crisis of Global Capitalism (Wipf & Stock, 2011) and co-editor (together with Ian Geary) of Blue Labour: Forging a New Politics (2015). Currently he is co-writing (together with John Milbank) The Politics of Virtue: Post-liberalism and the Human Future.