Rediscovering Abundance

Description

The essays in Rediscovering Abundance provide a complex and interdisciplinary analysis of the question of wealth creation and distribution in light of the moral and spiritual insights of the Catholic social tradition. In this volume, theologians, economists, philosophers, management theorists, and CEOs engage in conversation. Contributors cover the dimensions of today's global system of wealth creation and outline challenges to make it more just and humane.

This book questions both neoliberal and neoconservative views of the creation, distribution, and use of wealth. The volume seeks a middle ground, avoiding both conservative bias toward market mechanisms and liberal bias against business. It also provides practical suggestions for distributing wealth more justly, as understood within the Catholic social tradition. Rediscovering Abundance is an important new work that will be useful in business ethics courses, as well as to ethicists, pastors, practitioners in the business community, and anyone interested in the question of how a capitalist economy can create and distribute wealth in a way that benefits the common good.

Author Bio

Helen Alford, O.P., is dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, Rome.

Charles M. A. Clark is professor of economics, Tobin College of Business, and senior fellow, Vincentian Center for Church and Society, at St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York.

S. A. Cortright is professor of philosophy and tutor, Integral Curriculum of Liberal Arts, at Saint Mary’s College of California.

Michael J. Naughton is director of the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Reviews

"These essays represent some of the best thinking anywhere on the practical implications of Catholic social thought for business, organizational management, and economic life generally. They deserve to be read by a broad audience." —J. Michael Stebbins, Gonzaga University

“As an informed and informative introduction to social economics, business thought, and organizational management which so many follow as a result of Catholic thought and mentality's effect as being a significant part of society, Rediscovering Abundance is a remarkable compendium of useful, conceptual, and practical information.” —The Midwest Book Review

"Twelve papers consider what insights the Catholic social tradition can offer to our understanding of the creation and distribution of wealth." —Journal of Economic Literature

"The essays in this collection provide a complex and interdisciplinary analysis of the question of wealth creation and distribution in light of moral and spiritual insights of the Catholic social tradition. In this volume, theologians, economists, philosophers, management theorists, and CEOs engage in conversation. Contributors cover the dimensions of today's global system of wealth creation and outline challenges to make it more just and humane." —Abstracts of Public Administration, Development and Environment

"This volume. . . addresses itself to the Catholic perspective on wealth creation and distribution. This edited volume is really two books. The first is a collection of essays from conference attendees. Many of these are well chosen. When read in sequence, they constitute an insightful theology of wealth. The second is the account that frames the essays-introductions to the volume and the sections, essays by the editors, and concluding reflections." —Journal of Markets & Morality

“Utilizing Catholic Social Teaching, this volume expands the perception of wealth beyond the maximization of share price or the accumulation of capital. While addressing the moral impact of Catholic social teaching on wealth creation, this volume is suitable for graduate studies, professors, and professional economists.” —Religious Studies Review