On Justification: Economies of Worth

Description

Presents a foundational work of post-Bourdieu sociology that examines a range of situations where people justify their actions. This book argues that justifications fall into six main logics exemplified by six authors: civic (Rousseau), market (Adam Smith), industrial (Saint-Simon), domestic (Bossuet), inspiration (Augustine), and fame (Hobbes).

Luc Boltanski is Professor at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. He is the author of "Distant Suffering: Morality, Media and Politics, Le Nouvel Esprit du Capitalisme", and (with Laurent Thevenot) "Les Economies de la Grandeur". Laurent Thevenot is Professor at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. He is the author of "L'action au pluriel: Sociologie des regimes d'engagement", coauthor of "Les Economies de la Grandeur", and coeditor of "Les Objets dans L'Action, Cognition et Information en Societe", and (with Michele Lamont) "Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States"

"Boltanski and Thevenot's On Justification is one of the most important contributions to the field of economic sociology in the past decade. It does not fit neatly into any of the major theoretical perspectives that currently dominate the field-institutionalism, organizational ecology, network analysis, rational choice, or transaction-cost economics. But precisely because it is so original, it has great potential to chart new territory and enliven debates. The book has already had an enormous impact in France, where it is one of the founding documents of the 'economics of conventions' school. It is sure to have a big impact in sociology in the United States and Britain too. I could list at least twenty major sociologists who have asked me when the book will be translated."-David Stark, Columbia University