The Capitalist Revolution

Up to now, only Marxists have attempted the comprehensive social, as distinct from purely economic, analysis that capitalism demands. To help fill that gap Peter Berger provides a provocative analysis of how capitalism, as the great engine of change, has revolutionized modern life. Berger examines capitalism empirically, as it operates in the real world, not as its detractors or defenders would wish it to be. Analyzing the advanced socialist societies he shows that inequality is an issue not of capitalism versus socialism but of modernization. He thus lays the basis for a powerful - and testable - new theory of capitalism and the 'economic culture' it creates. Written with wit and elegance, the book is punctuated with fifty propositions summarizing its main points and crystallizing the relationship of capitalism to fundamental human values.