Civilizing the Economy

Marvin T. Brown teaches business and organizational ethics in the Philosophy department at the University of San Francisco and in the Organizational Systems program at Saybrook University in San Francisco. His previous books include Working Ethics (1990), The Ethical Process (2003), and Corporate Integrity (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

• List of figures; List of tables; Preface; 1. Introduction: creating a just and sustainable economy; Part I. Creating a New Economic Framework: 2. Adam Smith's silence and an economics of property; 3. Reclaiming the notions of provision and family; 4. Making provisions in a dangerous world; Part II. The Civic Option: 5. From property relations to civic relations; 6. Society, civil society and the market; 7. Restoring reciprocity; 8. Civic norms and market competition; Part III. A Civic View of Labor, Land, and Money: 9. Labor: employment as engagement; 10. Land: ownership as a concession; 11. Money: commodity or credit; Part IV. Civilizing Economic Systems: 12. A world of systems; 13. Imagining stakeholder economy; 14. The ethics of economic systems; 15. Changing systems of provision; Part V. A Civic Agenda: 16. The civic obligations of corporations: 17. Creating circumstances for civic conversations; Appendix: free enterprise and the economics of slavery; Bibliography; Index.

'As we humans puzzle our way to an understanding of how to live sustainably within Earth's carrying capacity, Marvin Brown has provided a crucial piece of the puzzle. Civilizing the Economy is an important book because it expresses a keystone idea of the new economic system that must evolve if our species is to survive and live up to its potential.' Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman, Interface, Inc.