Spirit and Capital in an Age of Inequality

Spirit and Capital in an Age of Inequality brings together a diverse group of scholars, activists and public intellectuals to consider one of the most pressing issues of our time: increasing inequalities of income and wealth that grate against justice and erode the bonds that hold society together. The contributors think through different religious traditions to understand and address inequality. They make practical proposals in relation to concrete situations like mass incarceration and sweatshops. They also explore the inner experience of life in a society marked by inequality, tracing the contours of stress, hopelessness and a restless lack of contentment. This book honors the work of Jon P. Gunnemann, who has been a leading scholar at the intersections of religion and economics.

Spirit and Capital in an Age of Inequality will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars of religion and economics. It will be useful to policy-makers and activists seeking a more thorough understanding of the role of religion and theology in public life.

Contributors. Introduction. Robert P. Jones and Ted A. Smith. Thinking with Traditions. Chapter 1: The Little Commonwealth: The Family as Matrix of Markets and Morality in Early Protestantism. John Witte, Jr. and Justin J. Latterell. Chapter 2: When Ancient Teachings Meet Modern Problems: Jewish Approaches to Poverty, Inequality, and the Market. William A. Galston. Chapter 3: Election, Selection, and Distinction: Paradoxes of Grace, Clan, and Class. Timothy P. Jackson. Chapter 4: Pope Francis, Catholic Social Thought, and the Rejection of Fear. E.J. Dionne, Jr. Moral Sentiments. Chapter 5: More Than Enough: Contentment and the Dominance of the Economic Sphere. Christine D. Pohl. Chapter 6: Stress. Julie Meadows. Chapter 7: Riots and Rip-Offs in Baltimore: Toward a Theology of Hopelessness. Miguel A. De La Torre. For the Love of the World. Chapter 8: Wasting Human Lives: Hyper-Incarceration in the United States. Elizabeth M. Bounds. Chapter 9: Challenging a New Frontier of Market Morality: The Case of Sweatshop Economics. Keri Day. Chapter 10: Wage Against the Machine: Wage Activism, Worker Justice, and Disruptive Jesus in the Age of Advanced Capitalism. C. Melissa Snarr. Chapter 11: Speak Up, Judge Righteously, Stand with the Poor: The Jewish Imperative for Social Justice. Jonah Dov Pesner. Public Theology and the Common Good. Chapter 12: America, Land of the Free and Home of the Poor: Inequality as a Way of Life. Darryl M. Trimiew. Chapter 13: The Integrity of the Church in a Divided Society. Steven M. Tipton. Index.

Robert P. Jones is the founding CEO of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), based in Washington, DC. He previously served as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Missouri State University, USA.

Ted A. Smith is Associate Professor of Preaching and Ethics at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, USA.