The Values of the Enterprise Culture : The Moral Debate

First published in 1992, The Values of the Enterprise Culture examines the moral implications of a cultural reform programme centered on reviving capitalist production, expanding individual freedom, dismantling the culture of dependency, and restoring personal responsibility.

First published in 1992, The Values of the Enterprise Culture examines the moral implications of a cultural reform programme centered on reviving capitalist production, expanding individual freedom, dismantling the culture of dependency, and restoring personal responsibility. This book aims to deepen our understanding of fundamental issues that affect everyday lives—issues at the heart of heated public controversies yet requiring more rigorous and thoughtful analysis than public debate typically allows. The contributors explore several critical questions: Can an ‘open’ market system that inevitably creates winners and losers, rich and poor, be considered morally defensible? Does the enterprise culture, with its selective promotion of certain ‘virtues’, genuinely cultivate moral individuals? Why have so many prominent religious figures opposed the enterprise culture? While enterprise culture is not a new phenomenon, the contributors demonstrate that it has become more firmly and expansively established than ever before. This volume will be a valuable read for students and researchers of sociology, cultural studies, theology, religious studies, political science, and history.