The Relationship of Morals and Markets Today

This article surveys recent trends in scholarship on capitalism within the fields of history, cultural sociology, and religious studies, highlighting the ways that scholars working in each of these disciplines have shifted their methodological and substantive approaches so as to foreground the cultural and moral, rather than technical, aspects of economic life. In light of our current moment of cultural reflection upon the character and future of capitalism, this article suggests that this scholarship contains valuable resources for enriching both public and academic conversations about the relationship between capitalism and moral life. This article concludes by identifying two promising areas for further, and interdisciplinary, scholarly attention.