Rethinking Materialism: Perspectives on the Spiritual Dimension of Economic Behavior

This collection of essays by ten of the nation's prominent social scientists and theologians offers serious commentary on our culture's obsession with material goods and examines the uneasy relation of materialism to religion. The contributors assess the ways in which materialism has been understood by recent analyses of American character, how the economy shapes our understandings of ourselves, the ways in which religious thought is being reshaped by economic circumstances, and the nature of consumerism.

The complement to Wuthonow's God and Mammon in America, this volume challenges us all to look at materialism in new ways and suggests viable means for reversing our country's prevailing material fixation and its destructive effects on our spiritual lives.

Contributors:
Robert Wuthnow
Martin E. Marty
Nicholas Wolterstorff
Wilfred M. McClay
Neil J. Smelser
John Boli
Marsha Witten
Miroslav Volf
Albert Bergesen
Alan Wolfe