Entrepreneurs and Capitalism since Luther

Ivan Light is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Léo-Paul Dana is professor of business at Dalhousie University.

• Chapter 1: From Resources to Wealth Chapter 2: Protestant Ethnics Chapter 3: Merchants of Venice Chapter 4: Aleuts of Kodiak Island Chapter 5: Memons of Karachi Chapter 6: Koreans in Los Angeles Chapter 7: An Undercapitalized Billionaire Chapter 8: Economic Supermen Chapter 9: Rogues and Regulators Chapter 10: Two Worlds of Enterprise

This book begins by defining market capitalism, noting that it is not as old as humanity and that capitalism as it is known today coincided with the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther. Throughout the book Light (emer., Univ. of California, Los Angeles.) and Dana (Dalhousie Univ.) examine many contexts where morality and capitalism intersect and insinuate a symbiotic relationship whereby society tolerates immorality in business for the sake of economic advantage. The 10 chapters in part 2, which documents non-monetary resources, start with Max Weber’s cultural approach to capitalism before examining the Protestant Reformation, the Jewish Merchants of Venice, an Alaskan island, Pakistan, Korean immigrants, and Donald Trump. Part 2 then offers an explanation of how non-monetary resources can legitimate capitalism. Overall, the book provides interesting insight into the intersections of culture and capitalism within a well-researched historical context. Each chapter has its own endnotes, and there is a complete bibliography at the end of the book. The index contains key terms; however, a more comprehensive index would increase usability, though its narrowness in no way takes away from the substance of this intriguing work. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.