Financial advisors, poker players, hedge fund traders, fund-raisers, sports agents, credit counselors and commissioned salespeople all deal with one central concern in their jobs: money. In Money at Work, Kevin Delaney explores how we think about money and, particularly, how our jobs influence that thinking. By spotlighting people for whom money is the focus of their work, Delaney illuminates how the daily practices experienced in different jobs create distinct ways of thinking and talking about money and how occupations and their work cultures carry important symbolic, material, and practical messages about money. Delaney takes us deep inside the cultures of these 'moneyed' workers, using both interviews and first-hand observations of many of these occupations. From hedge fund trading rooms in New York, to poker players at work in Las Vegas casinos, to a "Christian money retreat" in a monastery in rural Pennsylvania, Delaney illustrates how the underlying economic conditions of various occupations and careers produce what he calls "money cultures," or ways of understanding the meaning of money, which in turn shape one's economic outlook. Key to this is how some professionals, such as debt counselors, think very differently than say poker players in their regard to money-Delaney argues that it is the structure of these professions themselves that in turn influences monetary attitudes. Fundamentally, Money at Work shows that what people do for a living has a profound effect on how people conceive of money both at work and in their home lives, making clear the connections between the economic and the social, shedding light on some of our most basic values. At a time when conversations about money are increasingly important, Delaney shows that we do not merely learn our attitudes toward money in childhood, but we also learn important money lessons from the work that we do.

"This revealing, dead-on investigation of the modern-day sports stadium boondoggle, and its often-devastating impact on American cities, is an essential read for anyone, sports fan or not, who wants to avoid getting fleeced."-Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times columnist and former columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Time magazine "Public Dollars, Private Stadiums helps us understand the political processes involved in using public money for new sports stadiums. . . . It is a must read for anyone interested in this important new issue." -Richard E. Lapchick, founder and director emeritus of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University "Readable and smart . . . Kevin Delaney and Rick Eckstein show how conflicts over sports subsidies are emblematic of the kinds of power relationships that prevail in each community."-Lee Clarke, author of Mission Improbable: Using Fantasy Documents to Tame Disaster This book provides an eye-opening account of recent battles over publicly financed stadiums in some of America's largest cities. The authors' interviews with key decision makers present a behind-the-scenes look at how and why powerful individuals and organizations foist these sports palaces on increasingly unreceptive communities. In the face of studies demonstrating that new sports facilities don't live up to their promise of big money, proponents are using a new tactic to win public subsidies--touting intangible "social" rewards, such as prestige and community cohesion. The authors find these to be empty promises as well, demonstrating that new stadiums may exacerbate, rather than erase, many social problems. Public Dollars, Private Stadiums should be read by everyone with an interest in the future of sports and our cities. Kevin J. Delaney is an associate professor of sociology at Temple University and author of Strategic Bankruptcy. Rick Eckstein is an associate professor of sociology and assistant director of the Center for Peace and Justice Education at Villanova University, as well as the author of Nuclear Power and Social Power.

In 1982 Johns-Manville, a major asbestos manufacturer, declares itself insolvent to avoid paying claims resulting from exposure to its products. A year later, Continental Airlines, one of the top ten carriers in the United States, claims a deficit when the union resists plans to cut labor costs. Later still, oil powerhouse Texaco cries broke rather than pay damages resulting from a courtroom defeat by archrival Pennzoil. Bankruptcy, once a term that sent shudders up a manager's spine, is now becoming a potent weapon in the corporate arsenal. In his timely and challenging study, Kevin Delaney explores this profound change in our legal landscape, where corporations with billions of dollars in assets use bankruptcy to achieve specific political and organizational objectives. As a consequence, bankruptcy court is rapidly becoming an arena in which crucial social issues are resolved: How and when will people dying of asbestos poisoning be compensated? Can companies unilaterally break legally negotiated labor contracts? What are the ethical and legal rules of the corporate takeover game? In probing the Chapter 11 bankruptcies of Johns-Manville, Frank Lorenzo's Continental Airlines, and Texaco, Delaney shows that more and more, an array of powerful actors--corporations, commercial creditors, auditors, bond rating agencies and investment bankers--are coming to view bankruptcy as a legitimate business strategy. In each situation, the choice of bankruptcy by these corporate giants was directly influenced by the surrounding business community. In the case of Johns-Manville, carrying appropriate insurance did not prevent its twenty insurance companies from refusing to pay claims. Thanks to shrewdplanning and cooperation from Continental's creditors, not only was the airline able to continue flying in the first week of Chapter 11, but it could also offer the lowest cross-country fare in the market. Texaco's banks nudged their client toward bankruptcy as a way to squeeze it into compliance with banking conventions it had previously bypassed. Strategic Bankruptcy uncovers the ways in which bankruptcy has become a biased political system of allocating scarce resources. Delaney's in-depth investigation of three recent bankruptcies and his searing expose of current corporate practices make this book essential reading for corporate executives, lawyers, legislators, and policymakers.