A Companion to Moral Anthropology

A Companion to Moral Anthropology represents the first collective effort to bring together the various currents, approaches, and issues in this emerging field. Didier Fassin and an international group of experts examine the multiple dimensions of morals, moralities and ethics. Their inquiry reflects a rapidly growing interest in the ethnography of moralities, the study of moral subjectivities, and the exploration of moral economies.

A scholar who has pioneered research in the field of moral anthropology, Didier Fassin discusses its diverse genealogies and its epistemological questions. The distinguished contributors to the volume explore the formation of moral facts (including values, virtues, and sentiments); local moralities in various contexts (around piety, poverty, or sexuality); perspectives on historically and culturally situated social worlds (such as religion, science, or finance); and the frontier between moralities and politics (in relation to humanitarianism, punishment, or borders). These original essays engage a dialogue with neighboring disciplines, from moral philosophy to the cognitive sciences. A Companion to Moral Anthropology offers a timely and thought-provoking glimpse into the current state and future directions of an important new area of research for the 21st-century world.