Veblen in Perspective: His Life and Thought

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M.E. Sharpe, 2001 - Biography & Autobiography - 207 pages
This unique work combines an authoritative account of Veblen's life with a thoughtful appraisal of his interdisciplinary analysis of the origins, nature, and persistence of industrial capitalism. The book goes beyond the myth of Veblen's alleged marginality, and advances an original interpretation of his life's work, with special reference to his ethnicity and to evolutionism. In the process, the author considers the intellectual sources and impact of Veblen's critical social thought, and its continued relevance to understanding the economic and cultural dimensions of global capitalism.

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Contents

The Mistaken Marginality of the Man from Mars
30
Ethnicity and Evolutionism
57
Back to the Future?
76
The Conspicuous Conservation of Leisure Class Culture
101
Predatory Institutions
117
Workmanship Institutions
137
Conclusions
160
Index
185
About the Author 209
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About the author (2001)

Stephen Edgell is Professor of Sociology at the University of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. He is the author of Middle Class Couples: A Study of Segregation, Domination and Inequality in Marriage (1980), and Class (1993); coauthor of A Measure of Thatcherism: A Sociology of Britain (1991); and joint editor of Debating the Future of the Public Sphere (1995) and Consumption Matters: The Production and Experience of Consumption (1996). He has published extensively in British, European, and American journals on Thorstein Veblen and on the sociology of the family, class, work, and politics. He is an elected director of the International Thorstein Veblen Association.