The Great Recession not only shook Americans’ faith in the economy but also prompted a “citizen’s critique” of our economic institutions. The Politics of Value provides a vivid account of three movements that emerged in the wake of the 2008 crisis, each raising profound questions about what matters for the health of our economy. Based on in-depth interviews and observations, The Politics of Value shows how movement activists contest prevailing wisdom about how to measure economic success--and offer their own alternatives. It tells the story of the individuals who created benefit corporation ... More

The Great Recession not only shook Americans’ faith in the economy but also prompted a “citizen’s critique” of our economic institutions. The Politics of Value provides a vivid account of three movements that emerged in the wake of the 2008 crisis, each raising profound questions about what matters for the health of our economy. Based on in-depth interviews and observations, The Politics of Value shows how movement activists contest prevailing wisdom about how to measure economic success--and offer their own alternatives. It tells the story of the individuals who created benefit corporations (a new corporate form that requires social responsibility), showing how the new legal form and certification procedures they create challenge the notion that share price is the best measure of business success. It describes the growth of the Slow Money movement that fosters peer-to-peer place-based investment and invents new ways of measuring the significance of dense interconnections and backward and forward linkages in local economies. It tells the story of 2011, when many state legislatures effectively ended collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, and protest movements arose to assert the economic value of public investments and services against the prevalent view that they are a drain on the economy. While providing compelling and intimate accounts of each movement in its own right, The Politics of Value also presents a new framework for thinking about economic value, one grounded in thoughtful evaluation of the social division of labor and the relationship between state, market, and civil society.