The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic LifePrinceton University Press, 2004 - 304 páginas Human beings are the only species in nature to have developed an elaborate division of labor between strangers. Even something as simple as buying a shirt depends on an astonishing web of interaction and organization that spans the world. But unlike that other uniquely human attribute, language, our ability to cooperate with strangers did not evolve gradually through our prehistory. Only 10,000 years ago--a blink of an eye in evolutionary time--humans hunted in bands, were intensely suspicious of strangers, and fought those whom they could not flee. Yet since the dawn of agriculture we have refined the division of labor to the point where, today, we live and work amid strangers and depend upon millions more. Every time we travel by rail or air we entrust our lives to individuals we do not know. What institutions have made this possible? In The Company of Strangers, Paul Seabright provides an original evolutionary and sociological account of the emergence of those economic institutions that manage not only markets but also the world's myriad other affairs. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, history, psychology, and literature, Seabright explores how our evolved ability of abstract reasoning has allowed institutions like money, markets, and cities to provide the foundation of social trust. But how long can the networks of modern life survive when we are exposed as never before to risks originating in distant parts of the globe? This lively narrative shows us the remarkable strangeness, and fragility, of our everyday lives. |
Dentro del libro
Resultados 1-5 de 65
... Family Bands to Industrial Cities CHAPTER 7 107 The City , from Ancient Athens to Modern Manhattan 109 CHAPTER 8 Water : Commodity or Social Institution ? 123 CHAPTER 9 Prices for Everything ? CHAPTER 10 137 Families.
... : I've been lucky to find an agent whose personal and professional qualities exceed anything for which social institutions can possibly take the credit . I began writing this book in Cambridge , England , Acknowledgments.
... institutions — sets of rules for social behavior , some for- mal , many informal — that build on the instincts of the shy , murderous ape in ways that make life among strangers not only survivable but attractive , potentially even ...
... institution will be described in detail : it is the institution of money . An- other is the banking system . We shall look at the foundations of trust in financial institutions , and examine the delicate balance between the nat- ural ...
... institutions of collective action- states , communities , and other political entities - and considers their virtues and their weaknesses in the face of the need to design collective solutions to the common problems of our species . At ...
Contenido
Whos In Charge? | 13 |
Prologue to Part II | 27 |
From Murderous Apes to Honorary Friends How Is Human Cooperation Possible? | 29 |
Man and the Risks of Nature | 31 |
Murder Reciprocity and Trust | 48 |
Money and Human Relationships | 67 |
Honor among Thieves Hoarding and Stealing | 78 |
Professionalism and Fulfilment in Work and War | 87 |
Families and Firms | 153 |
Knowledge and Symbolism | 174 |
Exclusion Unemployment Poverty and Illness | 190 |
Epilogue to Part III | 209 |
Prologue to Part IV | 211 |
Collective Action From Belligerent States to a Marketplace of Nations | 215 |
States and Empires | 217 |
Globalization and Political Action | 233 |
Epilogue to Parts I and II | 99 |
Prologue to Part III | 103 |
Unintended Consequences From Family Bands to Industrial Cities | 107 |
The City from Ancient Athens to Modern Manhattan | 109 |
Water Commodity or Social Institution? | 123 |
Prices for Everything? | 137 |
How Fragile Is the Great Experiment? | 245 |
Notes | 259 |
Bibliography | 279 |
295 | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life Paul Seabright Vista previa limitada - 2004 |
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