The Acquisitive Society (Paperback or Softback). Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.The Acquisitive Society (Paperback or Softback)

"Such societies may be called Acquisitive Societies, because their whole tendency and interest and preoccupation is to promote the acquisition of wealth. The appeal of this conception... has laid the whole modern world under its spell. ...It is an invitation to men to use the powers... without inquiring whether there is any principle by which their exercise should be limited." --R.H. Tawney, The Acquisitive Society (1920)

The Acquisitive Society (1920), one of R.H. Tawney's most widely read books, is probably his most influential. In this book, he criticizes the selfish individualism of modern society and states that capitalism encourages acquisitiveness, which corrupts everyone, both rich and poor. Tawney describes how economic inequality and meaningless work are by-products of capitalism, something which is as relevant and thought provoking as it was a hundred years ago.

R.H. TAWNEY (1880-1962), an English economic historian, was one of the most influential social critics and reformers of his time. After having studied history at Oxford, and influenced by his Anglicanism, he became a strong proponent of adult education. In 1931, Tawney became a professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, and was a leading expert on capitalism and on the connection between Protestantism and capitalism. In addition, he helped Britain's Labor Party formulate their economic policies in the 1920s and '30s. Tawney was a prolific writer of provocative books, such as The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century (1912) and Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926).