How far should society go in permitting people to buy and sell goods and services? Should they be able to treat such things as babies, body parts, sex and companionship as commodities that can be traded in a free market? Should politics be thought of as just economics by another name? Margaret Jane Radin addresses these controversial issues in a detailed exploration of contested commodification. Economists, lawyers, policy analysts and social theorists have been sharply divided between those who believe that commodifying ...
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How far should society go in permitting people to buy and sell goods and services? Should they be able to treat such things as babies, body parts, sex and companionship as commodities that can be traded in a free market? Should politics be thought of as just economics by another name? Margaret Jane Radin addresses these controversial issues in a detailed exploration of contested commodification. Economists, lawyers, policy analysts and social theorists have been sharply divided between those who believe that commodifying some goods naturally tends to devalue them and those who believe that almost everything is properly grist for the market mill. In recent years, the free market position has been gaining strength. In this book, Radin provides a nuanced response to its sweeping generalization. Not only are there willing buyers for body parts or babies, Radin observes, but some desperately poor people would be willing sellers, while better-off people find such trades abhorrent. Radin observes that many such areas of contested commodifications reflect a persistent dilemma in liberal society: we value freedom of choice and simultaneously believe that choices ought to be restricted to protect the integrity of what it means to be a person. She views this tension as primarily the result of underlying social and economic inequality, which need not reflect an irreconcilable conflict in the premises of liberal democracy. As a philosophical pragmatist, the author therefore argues for a conception of incomplete commodification, in which some contested things can be bought and sold, but only under carefully regulated circumstances. Such a regulatory regime both symbolizes the importance of nonmarket value to personhood and aspires to ameliorate the underlying conditions of inequality.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Near fine jacket. Beige cloth boards in dust jacket, octavo, not illustrated. Book has handsome boards and tight binding, text clean and unmarked but top edge of block is foxed. DJ has mild shelfwear.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Fair. Connecting readers with great books since 1972. Used textbooks may not include companion materials such as access codes, etc. May have condition issues including wear and notes/highlighting. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Near Fine jacket. Book How far should society go in allowing people to buy & sell goods & services? Should babies, body parts & sex be treated as other commodities to be traded in a free market? Controversial issues indeed. In the face of an expanding free market, the author explores the commification issue, balancing the liberal democratic ideal of personal choice against the need to protect the individual. human rights and to respect humanity. Radin is Professor of Law at Stanford University. Tan cloth with black titling on spine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 296 pages with extensive notes and index. Slight edge wear.
