Who cooked Adam Smith's dinner? : a story about women and economics / Katrine Marçal ; translated from the Swedish by Saskia Vogel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marçal, Katrine, author.

Contributor:

Vogel, Saskia, translator.

Standardized Title:

Enda könet. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Feminist economics.

Women--Economic conditions.

Women.

Economic man.

Economics--Sociological aspects.

Economics.

Physical Description:

ix, 230 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First Pegasus Books hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Pegasus Books LLC, 2016.

Summary:

"When philosopher Adam Smith proclaimed that our actions are motivated by self-interest, he used the example of the baker and the butcher to lay the foundations for his "Economic man." He argued that they gave bread and meat for profit, not out of the goodness of their hearts. It's an ironic point of view coming from a bachelor who lived with his mother for most of his life-- a woman who cooked his dinner every night. Nevertheless, Smith's economic man has dominated our understanding of modern-day capitalism, Such a viewpoint disregards the unpaid work of mothering, caring, cleaning, and cooking. Essentially, the father of modern economics has based our whole concept of capitalism on a system that ignores half of its participants. ...Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? charts the myth of the economic man, from its origins at Adam Smith's dinner table to its adaptation by the Chicago School to its disastrous role in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis."--Jacket flap.

Contents:

Preface to the American edition

Prologue

Chapter one, in which we climb into the world of economics and ask ourselves who Adam Smith's mother was

Chapter two, in which we are introduced to economic man and realize that he is incredibly seductive

Chapter three, in which it becomes apparent that economic man is not a woman

Chapter four, in which we see that our pact with economic man isn't turning out as we had expected

Chapter five, in which we add women and stir

Chapter six, in which Las Vegas and Wall Street merge

Chapter seven, in which the global economy goes to hell

Chapter eight, in which we see that men are also not like economic man

Chapter nine, in which economic incentives aren't shown to be as uncomplicated as we might think

Chapter ten, in which we see that you aren't selfish just because you want more money

Chapter eleven, in which we see that a negative number is still zero

Chapter twelve, in which we all become entrepreneurs

Chapter thirteen, in which we see that the uterus isn't a space capsule

Chapter fourteen, in which we discover economic man's unforeseen depths and fears

Chapter Fifteen, in which we see that the greatest story of our time only has one sex

Chapter sixteen, in which we will see that every society suffers in line with its bullshit. And we say goodbye.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 198-227) and index.

ISBN:

9781681771427

168177142X

OCLC:

923794474