The Baby Auction

Taylor-Gooby, Peter (2016) The Baby Auction. The Conrad Press, Canterbury, Kent, UK, 302 pp. ISBN 978-1-78301-961-8. (KAR id:56712)

Image (JPEG) Cover Image Language: English
Download this file (Image (JPEG)/53kB)	Preview
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
PDF Supplemental Material Language: English
Download this file (PDF/187kB)	Preview
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
XML Word Processing Document (DOCX) Language: English Restricted to Repository staff only

XML Word Processing Document (DOCX) (50 page sample) Author's Accepted Manuscript Language: English To the extent possible under law, copyright and related or neighboring rights on this work have been waived.
Download this file (XML Word Processing Document (DOCX)/89kB)
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
Official URL: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Auction-Peter-Taylor...

Abstract

Summary

Auctioning babies makes sense; the babies go to new parents who’ve proved by paying more than anyone else that they will give them the best start in life; the parents who’ve brought them into the world get real compensation for their pain and trouble. At least that’s what everyone in Market World thinks.

Ed, a tough, spirited and streetwise young woman, and Matt, innocent and loyal, an outsider, hate this world, where the market decides everything. Anna, a successful business woman and Dain one of the Enforcers who police the city, think it offers a brave new world.

The Baby Auction tells the story of Ed and Matt’s love and of their struggle against Market World, of their pain and trials and ultimate escape. It also tells how Anna and Dain come to discover that there is more to life that success in the city, and that they must overcome the contempt of all those around them, mistrust and betrayal before they can prove their love for each other through self-sacrifice.

Item Type:	Book
Additional information:	Why I wrote The Baby Auction I became an academic because I am passionate about social justice and want to understand how modern civilised societies permit injustice, inequality and oppression. How can people exploit their fellow citizens for profit? How can someone treat another person without respecting them, as a person? That’s what people do in market societies. My writing and research made me one of the leading academics in the field but it never really answered these questions. I wrote The Baby Auction to understand how real human characters, striving and struggling and loving in a world driven entirely by market forces might live a humane and generous life. Market forces may shape and twist our lives, but people can live as humans, not profit and loss accounting machines. People can care for others, they can sacrifice themselves when there is absolutely nothing in it for them, completely against the laws of the market. I wanted to understand how this is possible
Uncontrolled keywords:	Social Welfare; Market; Privatisation; Responsibility; Individualism
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare J Political Science > JF Political institutions and public administration
Divisions:	Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User:	Peter Taylor-Gooby
Date Deposited:	01 Aug 2016 14:29 UTC
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2022 12:21 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/56712 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Taylor-Gooby, Peter.

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4825-1250
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Depositors only (login required):

Download Statistics

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.