Includes bibliographical references (pages 196-218) and index.
1. The embeddedness of markets -- Markets and their alternatives -- Markets and their preconditions -- The embeddedness of markets -- The consequences of markets -- The variety of capitalisms -- Globalization -- 2. Marketing and the meaning of things -- Things and meaning -- Commodities as gifts -- Consumerism -- Consumerism and globalization -- 3. Organizations and the economy -- The power of the boss -- Organizations around the globe -- Organizations and internal labor markets -- The organizational context for conflict -- Workplace and personal life -- The formation of an organizational economy -- 4. Networks in the economy -- What is a network? -- Why networks work -- Individual networks -- The importance of networks in markets -- 5. Banking and finance -- What does a financial system do? -- Finance and development -- Regulation and deregulation -- Disintermediation -- Innovation and status -- Household finance -- Globalization and finance -- 6. Economic inequality -- Inequality in perspective -- Inequality and efficiency -- Explaining recent trends in income inequality -- Globalization -- Race, gender, and inequality -- Inequalities in U.S. labor markets -- Gender in the labor market -- Race in the labor market -- Race, mortgage discrimination, and wealth inequality -- Race, gender, and price -- 7. Economic development -- Economic development defined -- From The Wealth of Nations to the Washington consensus -- Sociological perspectives on development -- 8. Conclusion.
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Understanding how society shapes the economy helps us answer many important questions. For example, how does advertising get people to buy things? How do people use their social connections to get jobs? How did large bureaucratic organizations come to be so pervasive in modern economies--and what difference does it make? How can we explain the persistence of economic inequalities between men and women and across racial groups? Why do some countries become rich while others stay poor? This book presents sociological answers to questions like these.