Commodified World

Colin Williams is professor of work organization and director of the Collective for Alternative Organization Studies (CAOS) at the University of Leicester Management Centre (ULMC).

'This is a bold and engaging book that demonstrates the uneven progress of commodification across the so-called developed and developing worlds. Marshalling powerful evidence of the persistence of subsistence work, non-monetised and not-for-profit forms of exchange, Colin Williams challenges the "commodification thesis". Far from being a foregone conclusion, commodification is revealed as an incomplete and deeply contested process. A Commodified World? rejects the linear narrative of ever-deeper capitalist penetration, inviting readers to imagine and strive towards a future in which work is no longer defined in purely monetary terms.'Peter Jackson, professor of human geography, University of Sheffield'In this impressive new book, Colin Williams makes a beautifully argued case against the narrative (dare we say logic?) of increasing commodification. He also inspires us to unleash our economic imaginations and embrace the possibility of creating "plural," "fully engaged" economies.'J.K. Gibson-Graham, author(s) of The End of Capitalism (as we knew it)'In this book, Colin Williams seeks to puncture the taken-for-granted assumption that capitalism and its associated practices have successfully colonised every vestige of modern life. Drawing on evidence from the everyday lives of individuals and households in Britain and beyond, Williams reveals the persistence of a wide range of non-commercial and non-commodified practices that account for a large proportion of both working time and "output". In other words, capitalism has a much weaker purchase on everyday life than is too commonly assumed. In making this argument, Williams builds upon and extends a burgeoning inter-disciplinary interest in the possibility of "diverse and proliferative" ways of making a living and ensuring social and economic reproduction that seek to nail once and for all the neo-liberal myth that "there is no alternative".'Andrew Leyshon, professor of economic geography, University of Nottingham'A remarkable book that should be read by anyone interested in bringing our notions about modern capitalism in line with data and events.'Enrico A. Marcelli, Harvard University

• 1. IntroductionPart 1: The Penetration of Commodification: A Critical Evaluation2. The Commodification Thesis3. Subsistence Work4. Non-Monetised Exchange5. Not-for-Profit Monetised ExchangePart 2: The Uneven Contours of Commodification6. Socio-Economic Disparities7. The Uneven Geographies of Commodification8. Gender and Commodification9. Beyond the Advanced EconomiesPart 3: Future Options and their Implications10. Towards a Commodified World11. Doing Nothing12. Fostering Plural EconomiesPart 4: Beyond a Commodified World13. Cultivating Work beyond the Commodity Economy14. Conclusions