Beyond Self-Interest

Why the Market Rewards Those Who Reject It

Beyond Self-Interest
Krzysztof Pelc
RRP:
NZ$ 42.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 34.39
Hardback
h234 x 153mm - 352pg
12 May 2022 UK
International import eta 7-19 days
9781526648136
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
' It takes scholarly courage and knowledge to upend Adam Smith, but this is what Krzysztof Pelc has done in this profound and brilliant study' Robert Skidelsky' Turning both economics and conventional wisdom on their held, Pelc describes a world in which those who shun self-interest may actually end up being most successful - and most fulfilled' David Pilling, author of The Growth DelusionWe' ve learned that the way to get ahead is through strong will, grit and naked ambition. The belief that self-interest makes the world go round has served us well: it has helped make societies more affluent. More and more often however, financial success comes down to being seen as passionate, not a grim determination to be successful for the sake of success itself. In Beyond Self-Interest, Krzysztof Pelc argues that those who prosper increasingly do so by spurning prosperity, or by convincing others that they are pursuing passion, purpose, love of craft - anything but their own self-advancement. From the Puritans, who followed a religious calling and yet made a killing; to the fastest-growing firms of today, who claim to be ' changing to the world' through ' doing what they love' , declaring passion over profit is a profitable move. A bold, incisive and original work that draws on three centuries of intellectual thought, Beyond Self-Interest is a book to upend how we relate to capitalism. What if the true driver of market society is not the appearance of self-interest, but its opposite?
It takes scholarly courage and knowledge to upend Adam Smith, but this is what Krzysztof Pelc has done in this profound and brilliant study. It is not love of money, he argues, which drives the baker to bake bread, but the disinterested passion for baking, which assures the credibility of his product. There is an urgent moral lesson here for our own age of climate-induced scarcity: GDP is at best a means to the good life, it cannot be its meaning -- Robert Skidelsky What if greed is not good? What if the pursuit of happiness means embracing values beyond narrow ambition? Pelc argues that affluent societies have reached just such a point. Turning both economics and conventional wisdom on their head, he describes a world in which those who shun self-interest may actually end up being most successful - and most fulfilled -- David Pilling, author of THE GROWTH DELUSION A fascinating book, bursting with paradoxes, riddles, and counterintuitive ideas that will challenge some of your strongest beliefs about how society works -- Daniel Susskind, author of A WORLD WITHOUT WORK Why do so many people perceive capitalism to be failing us? This wide-ranging and provocative book argues that modern capitalists have fallen into the trap of believing their own arguments about the benefits of individual self-interest -- Diane Coyle
Krzysztof Pelc is Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University, having held positions at Princeton, NYU and the University of Copenhagen. He is a contributor to publications including the Washington Post and the Atlantic, and regularly appears on television and radio to speak about current affairs. In 2021, he won the Financial Times essay prize, held on the bicentenary of the Political Economy Club. Born in Warsaw, Pelc grew up in Quebec and now lives in Montreal.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781526648136
Published: 12 May 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Hardback
Height: 234mm
Width: 153mm
Pages: 352

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