The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life

"In this book, Stark takes the reader on a fascinating journey of discovery, from the socialist factories of Eastern Europe to the new media companies and financial trading floors of Manhattan.The Sense of Dissonanceis equally a book about how organizations really work and how we should think about the problem of organization--a great accomplishment."--Duncan Watts, author ofSix Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age"For many readers, the most powerful demonstration of the ever-present duality of value and values will be Stark's field research on the impact of the 9/11 tragedy on one financial firm that lost hundreds of employees that day. Stark recounts the process by which the firm rebuilt its business through the painful and cathartic narratives of those lost and of those who survived. A moving analysis that redresses Dewey's paradox of the emotive and evaluative."--Bruce Kogut, Columbia Business School"At a time when global crises have shattered standard accounts of economic life, David Stark'sThe Sense of Dissonanceoffers powerful alternative explanations of economic activity along with specific prescriptions for twenty-first-century economic survival. Taking us into the varied worlds of Hungarian toolmakers, Manhattan Silicon Alley new media workers, and Wall Street arbitrage traders, Stark deftly grounds theoretical insights with marvelous ethnographic accounts. This book instructs and inspires."--Viviana A. Zelizer, author ofThe Purchase of Intimacy"This wonderful, lively, and personal book is packed with insights for economic sociology and general sociological theory. A mature statement by a leading sociologist, it is also a delight to read."--Walter W. Powell, Stanford University"This is an important book about an important topic--and it has a strong narrative and impressive, engaging ethnography."--Michegrave;le Lamont, Harvard UniversityStark, David is the author of 'The Sense of Dissonance: Accounts of Worth in Economic Life', published 2009 under ISBN 9780691132808 and ISBN 0691132801.