Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas - Hardcover

A lively survey of economic thought from the late seventeenth century to the present... A thought-provoking and entertaining read. (Katie Barclay, Women's History Network Magazine.)

Provides an original and comprehensive intellectual history of gender-related economic issues that may well complement - and challenge - more traditional histories of economic ideas. (Daniela Donnini Macciò, Storia del pensiero economico.)

The story is complicated, interesting and well worth telling. Folbre tells it well. She brings to bear an impressive measure of erudition and analytical sweep to knit together themes from very disperate thinkers and very diverse times into a largely coherent whole. (Indraneel Dasgupta, The Economic Record)

When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behavior? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others.