Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society

JOHN MARANGOS Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Crete and affiliated with Colorado State University (where he was Associate Professor of Political Economics from 2003-2009), USA.

'Marangos offers selected contributions that deal with economics and ethics from alternative perspectives. The list of contributing authors includes scholars at various career stages, and with all exhibiting passionate commitments toward grappling with ethical challenges of our times that the economics profession should consider, but has tended to neglect. Marangos builds upon his strengths in Comparative Economics, and the nine chapters that follow his introductory chapter seek to answer the question: How might differing economic systems, and at various stages of development, attempt to create if not good at least better and fairer societies? What unifies these authors in their efforts is a heterodox tradition that leads each of them to think outside the economists' small box. Though the contributors are active as professional economists concentrated and working in a variety of fields, topics dealt with are largely focused on ethics and society. This focus renders Marangos' book useful to any potential reader concerned with ethical questions of our day, and open to learning what our few, highly principled economists are thinking.' John Hall, professor of Economics and International Studies, Portland State University and research professor, Halle Institute for Economic Research 'This thought-provoking collection brings home the importance of envisioning what a better organization of our economy and society might look like and how we might get there. Written from a range of theoretical perspectives, the chapters are certain to stimulate discussion and debate.' Deborah M. Figart, professor of Education and Economics, The Richard Stockton College of NJ

• About the Authors * 1. Introduction to Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society John Marangos * 2. Marx And Engel's' Vision Of Building A Good Society Al Campbell * 3. Gendered Work in a "Good Society" - A Paradox to Care About Karin Schönpflug * 4. Does the field of comparative economic systems care about the good society? A feminist angle on the need for institutional analysis in CES Lynn S. Duggan and Barbara E. Hopkins * 5. The Development Ethics Perspective of a Good Society John Marangos and Nikos Astroulakis * 6. Demystifying Finance: How to understand financializationand think of strategies for a good society Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos, John Milios and Spyros Lapatsioras * 7. Labor Standards, Gender and Decent Work in Newly Industrialized Countries: Promoting the Good Society Alex DeRuyter, Ajit Singh, Tonia Warnecke and Ann Zammit * 8. A Socially-Sensitive Developmental State: Key Economic and Politico-institutional Aspects Nikolaos Karagiannis and Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi * 9. Obesity, evolutionary psychology and the Good Society Steven Pressman * 10. Questions for a Good Society: Concluding Thoughts Ellen Mutari