Inventing the Ties That Bind

"Everyday, we are faced with a host of moral decisions ranging from the most considerate way to share a workspace to what sacrifices we'll make for a higher democratic aim. In Inventing the Ties that Bind, Francesca Polletta shows that we do not solve these dilemmas based on self-interest alone: people making decisions, including ones ranging from the deeply personal to the broadly political, often go against what would clearly seem to be to their personal benefit. Instead, people consider the nature of their ties to one another, and how these help them make sense of their obligations and what to do. At the heart of Polletta's argument is the central role relationships play in our moral lives. But she also shows that these relationships are often imagined. People use relationships as a kind of moral compass, which tells them when pursuing the most advantageous personal outcome shades into exploitation, or whom they are obliged to help, or what it means to treat someone as an equal. Looking to diverse cases ranging from debt settlement agencies to the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights movement, Polletta argues that when these imagined relationships drive us to act against our own self-interest, they often change the course of our democracy--or hinder our individual growth and well-being. In an era of extreme polarization, Polletta's portrait of how we make sense of our ties to one another is more urgent than ever"--