One of the most vibrant areas of inquiry in anthropology today surrounds questions of the commodification of human and natural life. In a world where cost-benefit analysis dominates economic and governmental decision-making, prices are routinely put on death and environmental devastation but little thought is given to what those valuations mean, both to those being blithely commodified or to the society behind it.
Anthropologies of Value brings together a roster of stellar contributors to consider the question of the commodification of life through an anthropological lens....

Since the 1980s, programs of humanitarian assistance in Africa have for the most part operated along neoliberal lines. Faith and Charity examines how that approach has changed relationships between religious action, humanitarian assistance, and social change. Exploring the logics of economic liberalization, including the reduction of government spending and the rise of the private sector, the authors look at how these changes have also transformed the attitudes of individuals towards society and the economy in ways that privilege individual achievement over any kind of collective...

In a climate of increasing management and measurement of all aspects of social life, Cris Shore and Susan Wright provide a timely account of what they refer to as audit culture. This book examines the rise of the new industries of ranking and enumeration from an anthropological perspective, drawing on ethnographic observation and genealogical excavation. While anthropologists have played an important role in initiating studies of audit culture, to date no systematic or comprehensive anthropological book has been written that documents or analyses these phenomena. This book aims to fill...