The Economy of Heaven: Ruskin, Capitalism, and the Postcapitalist Future

The 22nd Annual Ruskin Lecture, with Professor Eugene McCarraher

While John Ruskin has been recognized as one of the 19^th century’s most trenchant critics of capitalism, the religious character of his criticism is often ignored, and its contemporary significance is either dismissed or unappreciated. But Ruskin’s opposition to capitalism was rooted in a (heterodox) Christian understanding of creation and humanity, a sacramental conception of reality that is urgently relevant as we veer—with economic and ecological despoliation looming—toward some sort of postcapitalist world. Ruskin’s notion of “the economy of heaven” enables us to envision a world after capitalism that is more humane, generous, and ecological sensitive than we can achieve by relying on political and technological solutions alone.