Through an analysis of Christian communities in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica, this book analyzes how religious groups talk about the politics surrounding economic life. Amy Reynolds examines how these Christian organizations speak about trade and the economy as moral and value-laden spaces, deserving ethical reflection and requiring political action. She reveals the ways in which religious communities have asked people to engage in new approaches to thinking about the market and how they have worked to create alternative networks and policies governing economic and social life.

Co-Winner, 2016 Religion and International Relations Book Award, Religion and International Relations Section, International Studies Association

‘This rigorously researched book provides wonderful insights for anyone who cares about the intersection of faith and the economy. Over recent decades, the free trade movement has galvanized the attention of millions, and finally we have a careful analysis that examines this topic from multiple angles. This book should be read not only by the academic community, but also by practitioners in the field. Indeed, I heartily recommend it to anyone who cares about advancing the common good.’

D. Michael Lindsay - President, Gordon College, Massachusetts

‘Amid the swirl of business activity that governs much of our lives, it is easy to imagine that free markets are the best - perhaps the only - way to orchestrate the global economy. The faith communities Amy Reynolds tracks in this engaging narrative exemplify significant alternative perspectives. This is an important contribution to our growing understanding of religion’s role in economic affairs.’

Robert Wuthnow - Gerhard R. Andlinger ’52 Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, New Jersey

‘Religion and markets allegedly belong to separate and incompatible worlds. Wrong! argues Amy Reynolds in her illuminating book. Examining the narratives of Christian communities in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica, Free Trade and Faithful Globalization shows the deep involvement of religious groups in economic concerns such as free trade. An original and welcome contribution to the fields of religion, economic sociology, and politics, [this] book will attract a wide audience.’

Viviana A. Zelizer - Lloyd Cotsen ’50 Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, New Jersey

‘Scholars interested in public religion will benefit from this book’s detailed portrait of three religious bodies’ economic discourse. Around the world, many people view at least some aspects of global market relations critically. How would religious spokespeople generate more discussion about the morality of the global economy? Reynolds’s book has given us important starting points for inquiring further.’

Paul Lichterman Source: American Journal of Sociology