Bringing together the most exciting and innovative work of the last ten years in the emerging field of cultural economy, The Blackwell Cultural Economy Reader shows how this hybrid area of study is now posing a significant challenge to notions of the economic and what counts as economic action.


The pursuit of prosperity has always been a cultural performance. However, since the nineteenth century, with the rise of a separate profession of economics, such performance has either been neglected or actively denigrated. With the help of a substantial introduction from the editors, this Reader shows that the pursuit of prosperity is the pursuit of many goals at once - from meeting material needs and making profit to seeking symbolic satisfaction and fleeting pleasures. It goes beyond just adding "culture" to "economy."

Organized around categories such as production, finance and money, economic regulation, commodity chains, consumption, and passions, this volume introduces developments at the cutting edge of a new and vibrant field.