In Search of the Spirits of Capitalism

In this book, researchers of and representatives from various world religions contribute to the scholarship on the moral justification and future orientation of today’s capitalism. The book is inspired by the sociologist Max Weber, who initiated an impressive research project on the ‘Economic Ethics of the World Religions’, discussing Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. In this volume, the authors ask what from within the perspective of these religions themselves would be said today about capitalism in free markets. This text appeals to students and researchers working and interested in questions related to culture & economy, comparative religion and the economics of religion.

Jordan J. Ballor is executive director of the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD) at First Liberty Institute (USA). He has previously held research positions at the CRCD, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam as part of the Moral Markets project. He has doctorates in Reformation history from the Universität Zürich and in moral theology from Calvin Theological Seminary and is co-author and co-editor of the forthcoming A History of Christian Political Economy: From the Patristics to the Present and Sources in Christian Political Economy: A Reader (B&H Academic).
Govert J. Buijs studied political science, philosophy and theology at various institutions in The Netherlands and Canada and holds a PhD in political philosophy of the VU University (‘Vrije Universiteit’) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He currently holds the Goldschmeding Chair Societal and Economic Renewal which is combined with the Abraham Kuyper Chair for Political Philosophy & Religion at the philosophy department of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of VU University Amsterdam. His book Het goede leven en de vrije markt (‘The Good Life and the Free Market’, co-authored with Ad Verbrugge and Jelle van Baardewijk) won the Dutch Socrates Prize for the best book in philosophy in 2019. Recently he published with the former Dutch prime-minister Jan Peter Balkenende the book Capitalism Reconnected. Toward a Sustainable, Inclusive and Innovative Market Economy in Europe. (Amsterdam University Press, 2024).