
Addicted to Profit
Reclaiming Our Lives from the Free Market
Stuart Sim(Author)
Edinburgh University Press
Published on 17. April 2012
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-0-7486-4671-5 (ISBN)
Description
Will our addiction to profit destroy the world we live in?The profit motive now exercises an effective tyranny over our lives: in the private as well as the public sector, nowhere seems immune from its reach. International tycoons, economists and politicians are obsessed with economic growth. Yet, as Stuart Sim shows, the pursuit of excessive profit brought the world to the brink of economic chaos in the recent credit crisis and threatens us with environmental disaster as well. Despite this, neoliberalism still sets the agenda for economic policy in the West. Sim suggests various 'act up' strategies so that we might resist becoming slaves to personal gain and, in doing so, he demonstrates that life needn't be all about profit.Key Features:* Analyses the psychology behind our fetishization of profit* Demonstrates the threat that neoliberalism poses to our public services - healthcare and education in particular* Explores the debate of altruism versus self-interest through the neuroscientific literature* Argues the case for a return to a more socialistic consciousness to combat neoliberalism
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Paper over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-4671-5 (9780748646715)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2012
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€0.00
Available for download

E-Book
04/2012
Edinburgh University Press
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Stuart Sim is retired Professor of Critical Theory at Northumbria University. He has published widely on critical theory, and is a Fellow of the English Association. Amongst his recent publications are The Lyotard Dictionary (2011), Addicted to Profit: Reclaiming Our Lives from the Free Market (2012), Fifty Key Postmodern Thinkers (2013), and, with Brett Wilson and Barbara Hawkins (eds) Art, Science & Cultural Understanding (2014).
Content
Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: It's All About Profit; 2. The Tyranny of Profit: Confronting an Addiction and a Fetish; 3. 'What Shall It Profit a Man?': Profitless Activities; 4. Life Before Profit, Life Minus Profit; 5. Profit in the Genes?; 6. Neoliberalism, Financial Crisis, and Profit; 7. Global Warming and Profit; 8. Healthcare and Profit; 9. Education and Profit: The World of Pay-as-You-Learn; 10. The Arts, the Media Industries and Profit; 11. Conclusion: It Needn't All Be About Profit; Notes; Bibliography; Index.