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Up to now, only Marxists have attempted
the comprehensive social -- as distinct from purely economic
-- analysis capitalism demands. To help fill that gap, the
world-renowned sociologist Peter Berger here provides a
tough-minded, provocative analysis of how capitalism, as
the great engine of change, has revolutionized modern life.
Berger examines capitalism empirically, as it operates in
the real world, not as its detractors or defenders would
wish it to be. He thus lays the basis for a powerful --
and testable -- new theory of capitalism and the "economic
culture" it creates. Written with wit and elegance,
the book is punctuated with fifty propositions summarizing
its main points and crystallizing the relationship of capitalism
to fundamental human values.
Berger's central theme is that the modern
market economy we call capitalism transforms every other
aspect of society. Drawing on his vast erudition and acute
observations, Berger shows that capitalism is the most successful
economic mechanism ever devised for improving material standards
of large numbers of people; that it produces a kind of society
in which both privilege and prestige are basically grounded
in economic achievement; and that, in the West, it has been
casually connected with political democracy and individual
autonomy. Turning to the Third World and, especially, East
Asia, he shows that capitalism is not a mere by-product
of specifically Western culture. Analyzing the advanced
socialist societies, he shows that inequality is an issue
not of capitalism versus socialism but of modernization.
In sum, Berger has written the rare book destined to shape
debate for years to come.
Peter L. Berger is University Professor
and Director of the Institute for the Study of Economic
Culture at Boston University. His many books include the
classic Invitation to Sociology.
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