https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to capitalism en https://religiondispatches.org/2020/01/08/trying-really-good-enough-good-place-has-c-word-problem On October 8 th, 2019, Jameela Jamil, one of the lead actresses on the surprising hit TV-show The Good Place was embroiled in a Twitter scandal. Liberal TV personality Ellen DeGeneres, who had developed a public friendship with former president… Wed, 08 Jan 2020 03:50:54 EST Daniel Albert Joslyn e0c43bb2-dd02-419a-8b97-dfdc31b80e9a https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/01/faith-market-our-national-religion-says-theologian-harvey-cox We all have a lot of praying to do. Thu, 01 Sep 2016 06:20:54 EDT Alan Levinovitz 05ea3e20-35fe-4382-9d1b-4294524c9745 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/09/progress-christ-commercial-america-review-chris-lehmanns-money-cult At 400 pages, Chris Lehmann’s The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream examines in appropriate depth the “mystery just how America’s once-austere and communal version of dissenting Protestantism developed into such a ripe recruiting ground… Thu, 09 Jun 2016 04:05:31 EDT Peter Laarman 04c6293b-efb3-4967-9af3-21e8e1289fe7 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/21/put-your-money-where-your-mind-profit-meditation-studio-opens-new-york Ellie Burrows and Lodro Rinzler had their big idea over a cup of tea. Certain details change with the telling (was it a nail salon or a hair salon?), but here’s the official version: during a teatime conversation, Burrows asked… Thu, 21 Jan 2016 12:33:29 EST Michael Schulson 7244d37b-04ca-4079-832f-0950cca3e969 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/08/25/soulcycle-looks-sell-its-soul Since its inception in 2006, SoulCycle has done two things really, really well. First of all, it has turned the stationary biking class—a.k.a. spinning—into a fashionable, upper-crust, New-Agey-communal experience. SoulCycle classes involve candles, loud music, in-sync cycling, and exhortative therapy-speak… Tue, 25 Aug 2015 05:04:01 EDT Michael Schulson 175a4eeb-9fdf-40f6-84a0-7dd4ea111999 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/06/23/memo-david-brooks-francis-not-naive-criticizing-capitalism I had to read Brooks’ column on Laudato si a couple of times to realize fully what a risk-taker he is to put this stuff out there, apodictically as it were, without pausing to consider whether Francis might have very… Tue, 23 Jun 2015 03:35:01 EDT Peter Laarman 8dea032a-dbdd-499e-88a8-322fca6d7546 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/04/20/invention-corporate-christian-america According to author Kevin Kruse, the idea that America is a “Christian nation” was invented only recently, forged by an alliance between industrialists and conservative clergy who preached the connection between Christianity and capitalism. In One Nation Under God, the… Mon, 20 Apr 2015 02:59:33 EDT Andrew Aghapour 858fdabd-ec1f-4fcb-b898-7a2dbdbb0c6f https://religiondispatches.org/2014/06/12/note-david-brat-free-markets-are-not-calvinist On the occasion of Dave Brat’s rise to (perhaps short-lived) fame, I wish to take this opportunity to question the common wisdom that Calvinism and capitalism go hand in hand. The confusion may go back even farther than Max Weber’s… Thu, 12 Jun 2014 09:00:33 EDT Kate Blanchard e3434558-365d-41f9-934a-c38a4aa052f2 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/12/17/pope-marxists-and-koch-brothers Can a business school be in line with Catholic social teaching? Tue, 17 Dec 2013 01:09:11 EST Sarah Posner 8ce4eb84-c4e1-4685-a1c9-ffc28bef111f https://religiondispatches.org/2013/07/19/capitalism-and-christianity Half of white evangelicals say capitalism is at odds with Christian values Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:46:53 EDT Peter Montgomery 71b5f771-dfbb-4a66-ac51-48d17050c895 https://religiondispatches.org/2013/01/11/report-americas-sacrifice-zones “I wanted to write a book that looked at what happened when you forced individuals and communities, as well as the environment, to kneel before the dictates of the marketplace. The best way to do this was to go to the nation’s sacrifice zones, those poorest pockets of the country that had been exploited first, to show what happens when you allow the marketplace to rule.” Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:41:29 EST Chris Hedges e246cf0a-e34e-443b-8794-002ddb231823 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/12/04/wal-mart-faces-new-round-historic-strikes-why-now Arkansas’ evangelical culture enabled Wal-Mart to grow without its employees having any power to negotiate for better working conditions. But as it grew to become the world’s largest retailer, it expanded into urban and other areas with markedly different cultures—a transformation that looks to be changing the balance of power. Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:23:53 EST Sarah Jaffe 887750a0-d5a7-4108-8a8d-5cf8068360df https://religiondispatches.org/2012/08/08/reagan-era-still-going The Reagan era was supposed to have ended in November 2008—killed off by 30 years of flat wages and capitulation to Wall Street leading to a colossal financial crash. But today the Reagan era is enduring in stranger forms than ever. Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:14:52 EDT Gary Dorrien 1cb133a9-5061-4095-acf7-41ab7340eba1 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/07/05/meditation-multi-taskers-answer But what is the question? Thu, 05 Jul 2012 05:38:09 EDT Andrew Aghapour 3b2032f1-e3f3-431b-b280-1fb0dcef7dd1 https://religiondispatches.org/2012/03/27/why-did-pope-choose-cuba Human rights, the role of the Church, and politics aren’t the whole story. Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:34:13 EDT Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado 1028db59-5fcc-4cbd-8661-617be1d2176a https://religiondispatches.org/2012/02/14/one-percenters-love Yes, your colleagues would laugh if you went out to protest. Marie Antoinette laughed too, until she found herself smiling up from the bottom of a wicker basket. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:27:18 EST Garret Keizer c4140685-b6b0-4fc2-9744-313ebea01d3b https://religiondispatches.org/2011/12/14/god-wants-you-work-harder-and-stop-complaining So-called “workplace spirituality” teaches people that the anxieties associated with global capital are inevitable, even part of the natural order of things. Under the highly deregulated conditions that prevail in the twenty-first century, individuals struggle against constant job insecurity. In this socioeconomic stew, workplace spirituality offers the individual a stable community where ultimate meaning and purpose become anchored to his or her place of employment. Workers feel more fulfilled and empowered on the job, and, therefore, will freely work harder and more productively, the theory goes, while ignoring more material concerns such as declining wages and diminishing benefits. Workplace spirituality neatly legitimates globalization while muffling its psychological effects. Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:59:14 EST James Dennis LoRusso 7f0a8bea-73eb-4d3c-8b2b-ed3cf41ab845 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/10/10/where-are-clergy-report-occupy-dc Many liberal religious activists, Rev. Merritt said, remain stuck in the 1960s in how they frame and address economic issues, yet have abandoned protest strategies in favor of the model of maintaining a Washington office whose purpose is to lobby members of Congress. Other religious activists are too focused on “events-oriented things” like staged arrests, “where they’ve pre-negotiated the thing, which is not to me civil disobedience.” Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:40:03 EDT Sarah Posner 7eba39c5-4220-4821-b5b1-d0ca68e6bedb https://religiondispatches.org/2011/09/22/risky-business-pitfalls-corner-church-wall-street As largely secular protests to “Occupy Wall Street” advance in fits and starts, capitalism and church negotiate to bring the best of both to bear on the world’s most intractable problems. Except, not quite. Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:50:40 EDT Elizabeth Drescher 68c31b99-0c71-4798-85b8-65e9dae93a90 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/07/25/fix-economy-god-way-dave-ramseys-great-christian-recovery In Dave Ramsey’s plan, God looks an awful lot like a libertarian with a conservative American protestant streak. Mon, 25 Jul 2011 05:02:13 EDT Paul Harvey 52cee855-2aaa-44de-9ec2-4c76a190fdca https://religiondispatches.org/2011/04/21/numbers-new-poll-says-capitalism-and-christianity-are-incompatible So why is inequality increasing? Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:40:39 EDT The Editors 418828fc-086a-43f4-972e-71f2d2ac2f2b https://religiondispatches.org/2011/04/21/why-tea-party-hearts-david-barton Christian nationalism finds harmonious home with smaller government anti-tax crusade. What a coincidence. Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:24:34 EDT Lauri Lebo 5aad93b8-476b-4d48-b35f-c033008f10f2 https://religiondispatches.org/2011/04/06/traditional-values-tom-delay-jesus-loves-low-low-prices-just-another-day-texas The conservative group behind the Texas “Traditional Values Centers.” Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:34:57 EDT Sarah Posner b5541eb5-2614-4ac6-aadd-2c98e123721a https://religiondispatches.org/2011/04/04/how-religion-shapes-sex-discrimination-wal-mart A leading scholar comments on the nation’s largest class action suit. Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:05:07 EDT Joanna Brooks fe2c49fc-e546-40a4-ac25-88289725a4e9 https://religiondispatches.org/2010/12/16/meditation-shopping-and-desire Shopping is an ethical act. Today we live in a culture of cheap. We have an unprecedented access to cheap goods, yet we must recognize that cheap goods are cheaply made. I am not speaking of quality, I am speaking of cheap labor. We must recognize that through the act of shopping—whether it is for an article of clothing, a toy, a pint of strawberries, or even our morning cup of coffee—we participate in a global economy that values profit over people. Disposable goods are made by disposable people, faceless individuals whose backbreaking and unjustly paid labor produce the goods we consume. What we buy and where we buy it is a political act. It is also, I argue, a religious act. Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:20:30 EST Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado eb78eb6e-279c-4188-a47c-c835ff98b99b