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Thorstein Veblen's groundbreaking treatise upon the evolution of
the affluent classes of society traces the development of
conspicuous consumption from the feudal Middle Ages to the end of
the 19th century. Beginning with the end of the Dark Ages, Veblen
examines the evolution of the hierarchical social structures. How
they incrementally evolved and influenced the overall picture of
human society is discussed. Veblen believed that the human social
order was immensely unequal and stratified, to the point where vast
amounts of merit are consequently ignored and wasted. Veblen draws
comparisons between industrialization and the advancement of
production and the exploitation and domination of labor, which he
considered analogous to a barbarian conquest happening from within
society. The heavier and harder labor falls to the lower members of
the order, while the light work is accomplished by the owners of
capital: the leisure class.
Thorstein Veblen was once described by Fortune magazine as
"America's most brilliant and influential critic of modern business
and the values of a business civilization," and his wisdom and
often dryly satiric wit continues to be obvious today. In The
Theory of the Leisure Class, first published in 1899, he coined the
phrase "conspicuous consumption" as a critique of the rampant and
ostentatious consumerism of his day. Readers a century on will see
that the world in which we live today has little changed. In this
classic of economic theory, Veblen blasts the superficiality and
wastefulness of conspicuous consumption, but also delves into an
incisive exploration of the social functions of consumption and how
the concepts of property and class work in tandem. Anyone seeking
to understand the foundations of modern economic civilization will
be enlightened-and entertained-by this work. American economist and
sociologist THORSTEIN BUNDE VEBLEN (1857-1929) was educated at
Carleton College, Johns Hopkins University and Yale University.
Among his most famous works are The Theory of Business Enterprise
(1904) and Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (1915).
At the time of its initial publication in 1904, The Higher Learning
in America was known in educated circles as the most reflective
study ever made of the university system in America. Veblen's
evaluation of the misleading notions and erroneous beliefs were
inherent in "the higher learning" was received as fair by most
academics. As a result, many believed he paved the way to an
improved age in college education. Just as applicable today as they
were decades ago, his sophisticated style remains deprecatingly
amusing; his biting critique just as disquieting as it was at the
turn of the 19th century. The Higher Learning in America remains a
penetrating book by one of America's greatest social critics.
American economist and sociologist THORSTEIN BUNDE VEBLEN
(1857-1929) was educated at Carleton College, Johns Hopkins
University and Yale University. He coined the phrase "conspicuous
consumption." Among his most famous works are The Theory of the
Leisure Class (1899), The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904), and
Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (1915).
Veblen's classic position on social status is intertwined with
his interest in economic class and the political prospects of that
class. The Vested Interests is squarely in that tradition. It aims
to show how and why a discrepancy has arisen between the accepted
principles of law and custom that underlie the business enterprise
and the efficient management of industry. He also speculates on the
civil and political difficulties inspired by this discrepancy
between business civilization, and the social order.
Many of the essays in this collection originally appeared in
Dial from October 1918 to January 1919. The Vested Interests
includes: "The Instability of Knowledge and Belief," "The Stability
of Law and Custom," "The State of the Industrial Arts," "Free
Income," "The Vested Interests," "The Divine Rights of Nations,"
"Live and Let Live," and "The Vested Interests and the Common
Man."
In his new introduction, Irving Louis Horowitz discusses Veblen
as an economist turned sociologist. He explores the dichotomies in
Veblen's approach, describing it as radical in input and
conservative in outcome. Veblen was analytical in design, but
ideological in rhetoric. He was materialist in his economic
analysis, but idealistic in his emphasis on law and custom as
regulatory mechanisms of the management of society. Horowitz also
describes the difficulties Veblen experienced in placing his
steadfastly nineteenth century ideals in the context of 1920s
America. This is the final volume in Transaction's series of the
essential works of Thorstein Veblen. It will be of central interest
to sociologists as well as economists, particularly those
interested in the history of ideas.
This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy
Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive
selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to
reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional
imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor
pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues
beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we
have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting,
preserving and promoting the world's literature.
In his scathing The Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorstein Veblen
produced a landmark study of affluent American society that
exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and
waste that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social
behavior. Veblen's analysis of the evolutionary process sees greed
as the overriding motive in the modern economy, and with an
impartial gaze he examines the human cost paid when social
institutions exploit the consumption of unessential goods for the
sake of personal profit. Fashion, beauty, animals, sports, the
home, the clergy, scholars--all are assessed for their true
usefulness and found wanting. Indeed, Veblen's critique covers all
aspects of modern life from dress, class, the position of women,
home decoration, industry, business, and sport, to religion,
scholarship, and education. The targets of Veblen's coruscating
satire are as evident today as they were a century ago, and his
book still has the power to shock and enlighten. Martha Banta's
introduction illuminates Veblen's uncompromising arguments as it
highlights the literary force of Veblen's writing and its influence
on later American writers such as Edith Wharton, Henry James, Dos
Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She also sheds light on his
critique of the plight of women and his evolutionary arguments as
they relate to modern society.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has
made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the
globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to
scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of
other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading
authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date
bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Essays in Our Changing Order is the ninth volume in the collected
works of America's pre-eminent social scientist. Each volume has a
new opening essay, in this case, a comprehensive review of Veblen's
works by Scott Bowman that stands by itself as a premier statement.
Using an innovative framework, Bowman sees Veblen as concerned with
three unifying themes: the dynamic interrelationships between
instinct, habits of thought, environment, and social change in
human evolution; the essential contradiction between business and
industry sustained by the instinctual dominance of pecuniary
exploit over workmanlike efficiency; and the role of ideological
and animistic thinking in human affairs. This volume of Veblen's
most important studies, published posthumously in 1936, illustrates
and embellishes the themes Bowman outlines in a variety of ways,
and is remarkable for its contemporanity and literary freshness.
Veblen's editor, Leon Ardzrooni, divides the work into three major
segments: essays on economics, including the history of the field;
miscellaneous papers, which nearly all come to rest on matters of
religion and philosophy; and what Ardzrooni calls war essays, which
again reveal a very worldly and wise observer of current events and
critic of national policies. What is so astonishing is the
timeliness of these seemingly time bound concerns: whether dealing
with the condition of women, the intellectual contributions of
Jews, farm labor and unions, or the meaning of the Bolshevik
Revolution, Veblen confronts us with insights into still-unfinished
business.
Veblen's classic position on social status is intertwined with his
interest in economic class and the political prospects of that
class. The Vested Interests is squarely in that tradition. It aims
to show how and why a discrepancy has arisen between the accepted
principles of law and custom that underlie the business enterprise
and the efficient management of industry. He also speculates on the
civil and political difficulties inspired by this discrepancy
between business civilization, and the social order. Many of the
essays in this collection originally appeared in Dial from October
1918 to January 1919. The Vested Interests includes: "The
Instability of Knowledge and Belief," "The Stability of Law and
Custom," "The State of the Industrial Arts," "Free Income," "The
Vested Interests," "The Divine Rights of Nations," "Live and Let
Live," and "The Vested Interests and the Common Man." In his new
introduction, Irving Louis Horowitz discusses Veblen as an
economist turned sociologist. He explores the dichotomies in
Veblen's approach, describing it as radical in input and
conservative in outcome. Veblen was analytical in design, but
ideological in rhetoric. He was materialist in his economic
analysis, but idealistic in his emphasis on law and custom as
regulatory mechanisms of the management of society. Horowitz also
describes the difficulties Veblen experienced in placing his
steadfastly nineteenth century ideals in the context of 1920s
America. This is the final volume in Transaction's series of the
essential works of Thorstein Veblen. It will be of central interest
to sociologists as well as economists, particularly those
interested in the history of ideas.
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