Friendship in an Age of Economics - by Todd May (Paperback)

About the Book

Friendship in an Age of Economics is the first book not only to detail the relationships neoliberalism encourages us to have, but also to see how friendship can provide a bulwark of resistance to them. Written in an engaging style, it will be understandable to political theori...

Book Synopsis

Friendship in an Age of Economics is the first book not only to detail the relationships neoliberalism encourages us to have, but also to see how friendship can provide a bulwark of resistance to them. Written in an engaging style, it will be understandable to political theorists, philosophers, social scientists, and cultural theorists.

Review Quotes

Friendship in an Age of Economics is itself an important intervention concerning 'how we might live in the contemporary world with its particular power arrangements' (103)--and how we might change it.

May's book makes many insightful claims and raises a lot of intriguing questions about the nature of friendship and its role in the good life.

Todd May's book on friendship in our age is the sort of book people used to complain philosophers don't write: smart, insightful, clearly written, on a topic of vital importance, and able to be appreciated by philosophers and non-philosophers alike. Aristotle, on whom May writes wonderfully, said that only beasts or gods have no need of friends. So if you don't fall into either of those categories, you owe it to yourself to read this book.


Todd May's important book is a powerful critique of the role neoliberalism plays in our personal lives, and of the type of life it encourages us to live. But May also presents an alternative based on deep friendship, and demonstrates the possibilities of overcoming the sense of hopelessness that so pervades modern America.

About the Author

Todd May is Class of 1941 Memorial Professor of the Humanities at Clemson University.