Money and Credit
A Sociological Approach
PESS - Polity Economy and Society Series
1. Edition January 2010
200 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This book offers a fresh and uniquely sociological perspective on
money and credit. As basic economic institutions, money and credit
are easy to overlook when they work well. When they malfunction, as
they did in the new millennium's global financial crisis,
their importance becomes obvious and demands further
investigation.
Bruce Carruthers and Laura Ariovich examine the social dimensions
of money and credit at both the individual and corporate levels,
from the development of personal credit and a consumer society, to
the role of government in the creation of money. In clear prose,
they illustrate how the overall future of the economy is governed
by the financial system and the flow of capital into, and out of,
firms operating in particular industrial sectors, as well as the
social meanings money itself acquires and the ways people
distinguish between "dirty" and "clean"
money.
This accessible and engaging book will be essential reading for
upper-level students of economic sociology, and those interested in
how the bills, coins and plastic in our pockets shape the world we
live in.
Chapter 1: Introduction.
Chapter 2: A Brief History of Money.
Chapter 3: The Social Meaning of Money.
Chapter 4: Credit and the Modern Consumer Society.
Chapter 5: Credit and the Modern Corporate Economy.
Chapter 6: Conclusion.
Bibliography.
the book presents an alternative, indeed a sociological, approach
to finance."
Sociology
"By providing such a comprehensive overview of the
non-economic studies of money and endorsing their political and
social dimension, Money and Credit will be a good introduction to
the subject for all those interested, regardless of whether their
focus is economic, political or sociological."
Political Studies Review
"Money and Credit offers a pithy, fast-moving
introduction to the sociology of money and credit, chronicling
where modern monetary systems came from, how people assign social
meaning to money, how consumer and corporate credit markets
developed, and how the current system of credit operates for
families and Fortune-500 companies alike. Carruthers and Ariovich
provide insights not only into how modern currency and credit
markets work, but into why they sometimes fail to stabilize value
or to ensure that credit is given only where credit is due. This
lucid and engaging book should be required reading for students of
economic sociology."
Frank Dobbin, Harvard University
"Few books succeed in being both scholarly studies and textbooks
at one and the same time, but Money and Credit is an
exception. Written in an engaging and easy style, and full of
interesting and important information on money and credit from
early history to the current financial crisis, this important book
will appeal to a wide audience. It is also likely to become the
standard work in the sociology of money and credit."
Richard Swedberg, Cornell University
"Carruthers and Ariovich view the mysteries of money and credit
through a distinctively sociological lens. They treat this complex
and difficult subject in a way that is illuminating, accessible,
and concise, yet subtle and sophisticated - the gold standard of
academic writing."
Mark Granovetter, Stanford University
Laura Ariovich is Becaria Superior at the University of Buenos Aires
