If you want to propose a review, or alert me to one that has appeared and that is not mentioned on this page, you can contact me here.
Reviews and interviews:
In English:
1) By Sascha Becker, forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Literature:
“[A]n insightful and enjoyable read. [Seabright’s] platform view makes for a fresh look at religious organizations. I suspect that all scholars of religion economics will find the book equally insightful. For those less familiar with the economics of religion, the book is also an easy-to-read launchpad to the field. . . it will enthuse broad-minded social scientists as well. Finally, since the book addresses ‘big questions’ in an accessible and engaging style, it will also be of interest to nonspecialists.”
2) In The Economist – “God™: an ageing product outperforms expectations”:
“The Divine Economy looks at how religions attract followers, money and power and argues that they are businesses—and should be analysed as such.
Professor Seabright calls religions “platforms”, businesses that “facilitate relationships”. (Other economists refer to religions as “clubs” or “glue”.) He then takes a quick canter through the history, sociology and economics of religions to illustrate this. The best parts of this book deal with economics, which the general reader will find enlightening.”
3) By Jane Shaw, in The Financial Times – “Is religion just like business?”:
“A wide-ranging book, full of fascinating examples from the world’s many religions…Using his economist’s tools to analyse the lasting power of the world’s religions, Seabright has produced an engaging and insightful book, which I found myself pondering long after I had read the last page. Religion is a powerful force in many parts of the world. The religions that continue to be successful in a rapidly changing environment, he concludes, keep evolving to remain so.”
4) By Martin Wolf, in The Financial Times‘ Best summer books of 2024: Economics:
“Seabright has a great talent for addressing original questions. In this book, he reverses the familiar trope that religion is the antithesis of mere economics. On the contrary, he argues, religions are competing businesses: they attract people by providing services they value, from the mundane — a community in which to find a compatible mate — to the sublime — a sense of life’s meaning. Since these wants will not disappear, neither will religions. But, he concludes rather encouragingly, religions will fail if they choose to shackle themselves to tyrants. One hopes he is right.” See an associated DALLE image here.
5) By Shadi Hamid in Foreign Affairs: “Secular stagnation: How Religion Endures in a Godless Age”.
“The Divine Economy is an ambitious work that attempts to think economically about something that so often seems beyond the grasp of the social sciences….As Seabright puts it, “Without economic resources behind them, the most beautifully crafted messages will struggle to gain a hearing in the cacophony of life.” It is rare and even refreshing to have a book about the rise of religion that concludes, in a sense, that it’s the economy, stupid…..If there were a world in which people cared only about calculating their economic self-interest, the power of religion would be significantly blunted. But the world does not quite work that way—and, if Seabright’s analysis is any indication, it won’t any time soon.”
6) With Stephen Scott in the Starling Compendium, pp. 409-414: “An Interview with Paul Seabright”, covers both The Divine Economy and The Company of Strangers.
7) By Jonathan Benthall in The Times Literary Supplement: “The free market in faith: viewing religion through the lens of economics”.
“Combining tough-mindedness and cultural sensitivity, Paul Seabright may help to bring religion nearer to the mainstream of international political debate.”
8) By Arnold Kling in EconLib: “The Religion Business”.
There is a “tension between the narrow definition of religion and Seabright’s broader platform perspective. If religion were merely the belief in certain animal spirits, then at least in the United States we would be happy to rely on the First Amendment and a tolerant attitude of, “sure, whatever floats your boat.” But as platforms, religions have an impact on the economy, on politics, and on social relations in general. Friction would seem to be inevitable, and it becomes unclear how best to apply the First Amendment.”
9) By Atul K. Shah in The LSE Review of Books blog:
“The Divine Economy draws from the insights of sociology, anthropology, psychology, political economy and philosophy to show the deep the effect of faith in everyday life and explains why religiosity has been dynamic rather than static, and creative in response to the challenges of modernity. It shows how the prediction that secularism would prevail in an age of science and reason has been proved wrong, precisely because religion provides people with meaning, purpose and community, which secularism alone often fails to deliver. For me, religion’s scope and challenge has been truly ambitious, and the book has risen to this through a structured organisation, beautiful narratives and accessible language, authoritative open-minded research, all compiled from decades of study of the economics of religion.”
In French:
1) By Jean Duchesne in Aleteia – “En quoi la foi n’est pas étrangère aux réalités économiques”. Not so much a review as a short overview of different approaches to the use of economics to study religion.
2) With Thomas Mahler in l’Express: “Au niveau mondial, le christianisme n’est pas en déclin face à l’islam”.
3) By Bertrand Jacquillat in l’Opinion: “Plateformes numériques et religions: rivalités et concurrence”:
“Il peut paraître iconoclaste de soumettre l’espace religieux à l’analyse économique. Les religions pourtant s’y prêtent, du fait qu’elles partagent certaines des caractéristiques des organisations séculaires, et bénéficient d’une puissance financière indéniable”.
4) A short but favourable review by an anonymous reviewer in books.fr: “Les religions comme marques”.
Other references in the print media:
1) Editorial in The Times of India: “Why Religion is Big Business: an economic lens might explain its fortunes”. Not so much a review as an editorial opinion piece that summarises (approvingly) the book’s main arguments:
“God’s work is worldly work, and religions are businesses like any other, argues The Divine Economy…”. Full editorial here.
2) By Andrew Brown in The Church Times – “Using economics to explain religion has limits”. So, apparently, does reviewing a review of the book instead of reviewing the book itself, since Brown apparently believes the author is one Paul Seagate…. My letter to the Church Times correcting the spelling is here.
3) By John L Allen Jr in The Catholic Herald: “Africa calling: Westerners must accept that Catholicism’s centre of gravity is shifting.” The article begins:
“British academic Paul Seabright recently published an intriguing new book called The Divine Economy, which attempts to offer an economic analysis of religion. For admirers of belief, it includes the consoling premise that “religion is not in decline; it is, in many ways, more powerful than it has ever been”.
To prove the point, Seabright wanted to open with a vignette to capture the enduring appeal of religious faith. It was natural, arguably even inevitable, that he chose a setting in Africa – specifically, a Pentecostal megachurch in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, where his heroine, Grace, devotes a considerable portion of her meagre income to supporting the lavish lifestyle of Pastor William.”
Podcasts
With Rory Cellan-Jones and Iza Hussin on Crossing Channels, the IAST podcast.
With Mike Fallat on Million Dollar Stories.
With Alison Kuhlow and Roger Goldman on Mountain Money on National Public Radio.
With Chris Voss on The Chris Voss Show.
With Matthew Wilkin on The Sociology Show Podcast (video link to the episode here).
With Louise Perry on her podcast Maiden Mother Matriarch (link to follow).