Passions in Economy, Politics, and the Media

Passions play an important role in economy, politics and the media. Recent discussions of the economy, for instance, do no longer hesitate to stress the importance of a passion like envy functioning as a driving force in this field. Also the world of advertising illustrates the impor- tance of passions in the economy. Modern forms of politics, on the contrary, claimed to be de- tached from passions and to rely solely on rationality. Recent developments since the end of the cold war, however, have clearly challenged this self-understanding of modern politics. Not even politics can escape the world of passions. In our days, both the economy and politics depend on the media, another example of a highly passionate realm. Passions also have an important religious dimension. One of the central questions of any great religion is how to deal with passions. This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to the phenomenon of passions in the fields of economy, politics, and the media, drawing on Rene Girard's mimetic theory as a common focusing lens. It promotes a deeper understanding of the religious dimensions of capitalism, the contemporary return of religion to politics and the religious implications of modern mass media.