Extravagance and misery : the emotional regime of market societies / Alan Thomas, Alfred Archer, and Bart Engelen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, Alan, 1964- author.

Archer, Alfred, author.

Engelen, Bart, 1980- author.

Series:

Oxford political philosophy.

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford political philosophy

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Income distribution--Psychological aspects.

Income distribution.

Income distribution--Social aspects.

Income distribution--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (513 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2024]

Summary:

In 'Extravagance and Misery', Alan Thomas, Alfred Archer, and Bart Engelen investigate the extensive and growing economic inequalities that characterize the affluent market societies of the West. Drawing on insights from political philosophy and the new science of happiness, they show the damaging impact that existing inequalities have on our well-being, and offer an explanation for what went wrong in our highly unequal and frequently unhappy societies.

Contents:

Cover

Series

Extravagance and Misery

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. The Problem of Inequality

Propositional Summary

1.1 The Facts of Inequality

1.2 The Structural Basis of the "New" Inequality

1.3 Is America an "Outlier"?

1.4 Inequality and Globalization

2. Empirical Data on Inequality and the Dual Economy

2.1 The Critique of Rent Seeking

2.2 Wage Suppression and the Dual Economy

2.3 Rent Seeking, Resentment, and Angrynomics

3. Addressing Inequality: A Normative Framework

3.1 The Badness of Inequality

3.2 Distinctions of Caste and Class

3.3 Domination, Wealth, and Anxiety

3.4 A Distinction Within Egalitarianism

4. Recruiting the Science of Happiness

4.1 Problematic Correlations

4.2 A Positive Role for the Science of Happiness?

4.3 Going Beyond the Spirit Level

5. Emotions, Explanations, and Emotional Regimes

5.1 A General Conception of Emotions

5.2 The Justificatory Role of Emotions

5.3 Emotions in Social Explanations

5.4 Universalism or Constructivism About Emotions?

5.5 Reddy's Conception of Emotional Regimes

5.6 Other Aspects of Emotional Regimes

5.7 The Emotional Appeal of Market Fundamentalism

6. Rousseau, Smith, and Hegel on the Emotional Regimes of Commercial Society

6.1 Rousseau's Originating Critique

6.2 From Rousseau to Smith

6.3 From Smith to Hegel

6.4 The New Inequality in a Classical Frame

6.5 Rousseau's, Smith's, and Hegel's Emotional Regimes

7. The Emotional Regimes of Roman Republicanism and Political Liberalism

Introduction.

7.1 Republicanism's Economy of Esteem

7.2 Political Liberalism's Emotional Regime

7.3 Rawlsian Stability in a Rousseauian Frame

8. The Promises and Failures of Capitalist Market Societies

8.1 The Continuing Appeal of Smith's Ideal

8.2 Extending the Model to Financialized Capitalism

8.3 Veblen: The Engineer Versus the Capitalist

8.4 Kalecki: The Disciplinary Role of Unemployment

8.5 The Proliferation of Capitalist Discipline

8.6 Financialization and the Disciplinary Role of Debt

8.7 Can Smith's Ideal Survive in the Twenty-​First Century?

9. Positional Goods and Opportunity Hoarding

9.1 Hirsch on Positional Goods

9.2 Opportunity Hoarding

9.3 Positionality and Cultural Legislation

9.4 Positionality, De-​Marketization, and Public Goods

10. The Science of Happiness, Inequality, and Well-​Being

10.1 Why (Not) Use Empirical Evidence About Happiness and Well-​Being?

10.2 General and Specific Conceptions of Well-​Being

10.3 Our Approach: Ecumenical Yet Committed

10.4 Well-​Being: Methodological and Normative Issues

10.5 Well-​Being and Emotional Regimes

10.6 Income, Wealth, and Well-​Being

10.7 Income and Wealth Inequality and Its Relation to Well-​Being

10.8 Using the Science of Happiness

11. Inequality, Shame, Envy, and Admiration: A Smithian Perspective

11.1 The Inevitability of Shame in Stratified Societies

11.2 The Moral Psychological Impact of the Shame of Poverty

11.3 Shame, Stigmatization, and Rationality

11.4 Smith and Admiration for the Rich

11.5 Veblen and Emulation of the Rich in Market Societies

11.6 Admiration, Emulation, and Envy in Capitalist Market Societies.

11.7 Ought We to Disregard Envy and Admiration for the Rich?

12. The False Promise of Meritocracy and Its Emotional Regime

12.1 A Short History of Meritocracy

12.2 Meritocracy as an Incoherent Ideal

12.3 Meritocracy as an Unrealizable Ideal

12.4 Meritocracy as an Unstable Ideal

12.5 The Falsity of the Meritocratic Explanation of the New Inequality

12.6 The Functional Role of Meritocratic Beliefs

12.7 Merit's Role in the Emotional Regime of Capitalism

12.8 The Impact of Meritocratic Beliefs on Well-​Being

12.9 Meritocracy, Oppression, and Affective Injustice

13. Liberal and Republican Emotional Regimes Revisited

13.1 Strong and Weak Egalitarianism and Social Stability

13.2 Self-​Respect, Confidence, and Mutual Investment

13.3 Full Employment and the De-​Commodification of Labour

13.4 Realistic Utopianism About Work: Eliminating Bottlenecks

13.5 De-​Marketization, Public Goods, and the Commons

13.6 Rawlsian Associationalism: Putting Positionality in Its Place

13.7 A People's Money

13.8 Priorities Without Prioritarianism

Conclusion

List of Works Cited

Index of Names

Index of Terms.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on September 4, 2024).

ISBN:

9780197781753

0197781756

9780197781739

019778173X

OCLC:

1450358458