Freedom And Unfreedom Summary

Should todays Christians be pro or anti free market, pro or anti-globalization? How are we to survive in a modern world of scarcity? Theologian William Cavanaugh uses Christian resources to incisively address basic economic matters like the free market, consumer culture, globalization, and scarcity. Cavanaugh argues that we should not just accept these terms but rather enforce a Christian approach and way of living.
Cavanaugh discusses how God, in the Eucharist, forms us to consume and be consumed rightly. Looking at desire in contemporary "free market" economies, Being Consumed holds a positive and inspiring vision of how we as Christian who are the body of Christ can engage in economic alternatives. At every instance, the author illustrates

This chapter has been divided into five segments by Cavanaugh that consists out of “when is a market free?’, ‘Augustine on freedom and desire”, “libido dominandi”, “judging when a market is free” and “conclusion”. It touches on the concept of human liberty that is found in the theoretical model of the free market. Cavanaugh gives us an understanding about the free market economics of economist Milton Friedman and Catholic writer Michael Novak. Goods and objects are endowed with subjective value and the free market does not differentiate good or bad desires, nor does it inherently promote virtuous action or good stewardship because it is inherently value neutral. Instead of turning toward government, Cavanaugh suggests that Christians should work together through their church communities in fostering and promoting economic practices that serve to secure the conditions for human flourishing, transforming the market from within instead of attacking it from without. True freedom, according to Augustine and Cavanaugh, involves receiving grace from God, which is necessary for the cultivation of right

This chapter has been divided into 5 segments by Cavanaugh and consists out of “The Triumph of the Universal”, “The Particularization of the Universal”, “The Theological Significance of Globalization”, “The Concrete Universal” and “Conclusion”. Globalization is the central topic of discussion here and is presented as a view of the world that tends to ignore the interests and concerns of the local whether it is people or products. Globalization includes the worldwide integration of economics, politics, and culture. Cavanaugh presents to us that cultures and human relationships become abstracted for the sake of efficient and profitable economic relationships and through this poverty can also creep in. Cavanaugh argues that from a Christian prospective, the economy can be strengthened through concrete, local economic, thus consumers have to sow into their local communities instead of spending money on international or non-local products. A good example Cavanaugh makes is that one can travel from Florida to Oregon and “eat the same food, stay at the same motel, shop at the same mall, hear the same music on the radio. Hear the news delivered in the same accent, see the same cars, see the same clothes, and hear the same narrow range of political opinion”. One very helpful attribute of this book is that the author provides real-life examples of how Christian communities around the world are already creating economic spaces where