Sacred Economy: Religion and Capitalism in the United States

This course explores the ongoing relationship between religion and capitalism in the United States and the wider world. Although systems of economic organization and activity often seem to function as natural and secular spheres of social life, they meanwhile rely upon social priorities, intellectual presumptions, and cultural practices that continually have taken shape through the realm of religion. By exploring histories of capitalism from slavery to Silicon Valley, students will recognize how successive economic forms have drawn authority from religious ideas, initiatives, and individuals.