Markets and More?

Publication Date: July 2009

Publisher: National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Author(s): Shari Cohen

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Values; Religion; Consumerism; Economy

Type: Other

Abstract:

The author argues that any discussion of religion in public life needs to address the inexorable reach of commercialization into every aspect of human existence. She considers five key areas: the market's monopolization of our time and attention, its increasing role in creating our loyalties and identifications, its shaping of our modes of thinking about individual choice, work's place in our lives, and the ways in which business might involve itself in critical aspects of social change; to begin to sketch the crucial implications of these trends for independent thought, ethical sensibilities, collective action and human expression.