Being Consumed : Economics and Christian Desire

Should Christians be for or against the free market? For or against globalization? How are we to live in a world of scarcity? William Cavanaugh uses Christian resources to incisively address basic economic matters - the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity - arguing that we should not just accept these as givens but should instead change the terms of the debate.Among other things, Cavanaugh discusses how God, in the Eucharist, forms us to consume and be consumed rightly. Examining pathologies of desire in contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed puts forth a positive and inspiring vision of how the body of Christ can engage in economic alternatives. At every turn, Cavanaugh illustrates his theological analysis with concrete examples of Christian economic practices.

William T. Cavanaugh is associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.