TY - BOOK CY - Princeton ID - publications49363 UR - http://tse-fr.eu/pub/129321 A1 - Seabright, Paul Y1 - 2024/05// N2 - Religion in the twenty-first century is alive and well across the world, despite its apparent decline in North America and parts of Europe. Vigorous competition between and within religious movements has led to their accumulating great power and wealth. Religions in many traditions have honed their competitive strategies over thousands of years. Today, they are big business; like businesses, they must recruit, raise funds, disburse budgets, manage facilities, organize transportation, motivate employees, and get their message out. In The Divine Economy, economist Paul Seabright argues that religious movements are a special kind of business: they are platforms, bringing together communities of members who seek many different things from one another—spiritual fulfilment, friendship and marriage networks, even business opportunities. Their function as platforms, he contends, is what has allowed religions to consolidate and wield power. PB - Princeton University Press SN - 9780691133003 TI - The Divine Economy AV - none EP - 504 ER -