The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic LifeHuman beings are the only species in nature to have developed an elaborate division of labor between strangers. Even something as simple as buying a shirt depends on an astonishing web of interaction and organization that spans the world. But unlike that other uniquely human attribute, language, our ability to cooperate with strangers did not evolve gradually through our prehistory. Only 10,000 years ago--a blink of an eye in evolutionary time--humans hunted in bands, were intensely suspicious of strangers, and fought those whom they could not flee. Yet since the dawn of agriculture we have refined the division of labor to the point where, today, we live and work amid strangers and depend upon millions more. Every time we travel by rail or air we entrust our lives to individuals we do not know. What institutions have made this possible? In The Company of Strangers, Paul Seabright provides an original evolutionary and sociological account of the emergence of those economic institutions that manage not only markets but also the world's myriad other affairs. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, history, psychology, and literature, Seabright explores how our evolved ability of abstract reasoning has allowed institutions like money, markets, and cities to provide the foundation of social trust. But how long can the networks of modern life survive when we are exposed as never before to risks originating in distant parts of the globe? This lively narrative shows us the remarkable strangeness, and fragility, of our everyday lives. |
Contents
Whos In Charge? | 13 |
Prologue to Part II | 27 |
From Murderous Apes to Honorary Friends How Is Human Cooperation Possible? | 29 |
Man and the Risks of Nature | 31 |
Murder Reciprocity and Trust | 48 |
Money and Human Relationships | 67 |
Honor among Thieves Hoarding and Stealing | 78 |
Professionalism and Fulfilment in Work and War | 87 |
Families and Firms | 153 |
Knowledge and Symbolism | 174 |
Exclusion Unemployment Poverty and Illness | 190 |
Epilogue to Part III | 209 |
Prologue to Part IV | 211 |
Collective Action From Belligerent States to a Marketplace of Nations | 215 |
States and Empires | 217 |
Globalization and Political Action | 233 |
Epilogue to Parts I and II | 99 |
Prologue to Part III | 103 |
Unintended Consequences From Family Bands to Industrial Cities | 107 |
The City from Ancient Athens to Modern Manhattan | 109 |
Water Commodity or Social Institution? | 123 |
Prices for Everything? | 137 |
How Fragile is the Great Experiment? | 245 |
Notes | 259 |
| 279 | |
| 295 | |