"Konings makes a compelling argument that markets are productive in social, cultural, and political as well as economic realms, and that both Marxist and neoclassical economists miss the full richness of these intertwined processes. Money and markets produce connectivity as well as alienation - a fundamental paradox that is too often forgotten. [...] Konings is most compelling, and on more solid ground, when he tackles the big question: why many Americans support neoliberal reforms when they are often directly contrary to their own self-interest. [...] He argues that the neoliberal promise is one of redemption and hopeful aspiration, while progressives try to repudiate money. [...] As Konings argues, social scientists need to embrace the complexity and paradoxes of real economic life: that money and market interactions can strengthen and promote social relations as well as erode them. At the same time, economists and policy makers often have difficulty allowing that money and markets are embedded in particular social and political power structures and that “free” market transactions are less free than they might think. We would all do well to follow Konings’ lead in staking out a middle ground at once politically pragmatic and yet sensitive to the emotional enchantment associated with money and markets."

"In his timely new book [...] Martijn Konings launches a sophisticated critique of the various disembedded, externalist understandings of capitalism associated with strands of American progressivism, generally rooted in the approach most forcefully developed by Karl Polanyi. Konings argues that—contrary to the critiques of capitalism and money that treat the economy as a distinct sphere of life that is conceptually and empirically external to social, political, and ethical concerns—money, capitalism, and economics (or, as he argues is a more accurate name for what we typically refer to as economics, ‘chrematistics’) are deeply interconnected through affective and emotional networks and discourses of meaning, desire, and fulfillment. This book brings together a diverse collection of theories ranging from Latour’s actor-network theory to Agamben’s and Foucault’s theories of disciplinary biopower and biopolitics, to Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, with a pragmatist alternative to Saussurrean semiotics."

"The key flaw with Polanyian theory in Konings’s reading is its rendering of markets as autonomizing themselves from society (1), when in fact “capitalism operates through their imbrication” (2), impacting all aspects of social life. [...] This is an extremely important book that deserves wide and careful reading. Konings is careful to limit his theorizations to the United States, but there is much for readers elsewhere to ponder, given the globalization of much US culture and economy."

"the argument is framed as a quarrel with what the author calls a “ready-made narrative template” used in the social sciences “for expressing critical concerns with the role of markets and money in modern life.” It is a narrative wherein markets are depicted as cold and powerful, as damaging to the social fabric, and as generally not very nice. [...] Simply put, Konings’s worry is that a critique of “the economy” that treats it as autonomous or somehow disembedded from society leaves us blind to the way that markets and money actually function by enlisting us in their everyday operations. This is an eminently reasonable argument, which Konings elaborates in the most detail in his early chapters on money. As he points out, it is a mystery to no one that money is but a “convention,” one that operates “through contingent rules and an endless series of commensurations.” When all goes well, we have no problem with the fact that, as Kyle put it, “the economy is not real. And yet, it is real.” But when a crisis hits or when for some reason we start thinking as “critics” of the economy, we seem to lose sight of this basic understanding. Much like the crowds in South Park, we imbue markets with magical powers, we shudder in horror at the mere thought of a credit card, and most of all, we treat money as an idol to be destroyed—when, according to Konings, we would be better-off thinking of it as an icon."

"It is no doubt a substantial contribution to discussions about how and why people are emotionally attached to capitalist culture. Those readers who share the poststructuralist sensibilities of the author will find the analysis and theoretical framework germane to their work. Readers, such as this reviewer, who have decidedly more traditional Marxist proclivities will find Konings’ semiotic reworking of money interesting and worthy of reflection but in no way an alternative or upgrade to the time-honored combination of false consciousness, alienation, and commodity fetishism. In this connection, I think Konings’ book has far more to offer professional academicians than movement-engaged progressive intellectuals. Having said this, I do see potential practical value in Konings’ affective economy framework. Ethnographers and other empirically grounded researchers interested in studying the connection between money and emotional meaning in the lives of actual persons could certainly profit from appropriation of Konings’ work."