For Love and Money: Reflections on Viviana Zelizer's "The Purchase of Intimacy" Review by: Michael Schwartz and

Philip Kasinitz Sociological Forum, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Dec., 2007), pp. 594-595 Published by: Springer Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20110239 . Accessed: 04/06/2012 14:08
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Vol. 22, No. Forum, Sociological DOI: 10.HH/j.1573-7861.2007.00042.x

4, December

2007

(?

2007)

Book Reviews: Editor's Note

For Love

and Money:

Reflections

on Viviana

Zelizer's

The Purchase
Michael Schwartz2

of Intimacy1
and Philip Kasinitz3

Economic the sociology of the emotions, and the sociology sociology, sectors" in our business, and developments in of culture are all "growth in these pages. Although these areas have been much discussed these sub seen as very different, in both style and substance, fields are usually for in U.S. has been several decades one of the most original minds sociology Zelizer's intellectual project exploring how they are intertwined. Viviana's has its roots inWeber and Simmel, yet it also draws on fiction, philoso think and a wide range of contemporary sociological phy, ethnography, as well her own, often startling, The result is the kind of insights. ing, issues of social structure and everyday life, broad social theory, connecting
which we rarely see anymore.

Forum all discuss The three review essays in this issue of Sociological in discus Zelizer's recent book, The Purchase of Intimacy. They originated seminar led by Michael sions that began as a graduate Schwartz at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and earlier versions were at an "Author Meets Critics" session at the Eastern Sociological presented in 2006. They are, we are pleased to note, much Society's Annual Meeting more than book reviews. The critics explore key themes from The Pur as of the origins of relationships chase of Intimacy, including discussions the relationship of Zelizer's per determinants of their intimate dynamics, interaction theory, and the political valence of the spective to Goffmanian book in different national and historical contexts. Deirdre Caputo-Levine, use elder-care arrangements to argue that Lim, and Celine Wills Alwyn
at the Eastern Earlier versions of these papers were presented Society Annual Sociological on February 26, 2006. Meeting 2 at Stony Brook, of Sociology, State University of New York Stony Brook, Department New York e-mail: mschwartz@ms.cc.sunysb.edu. 11794-4356; 3 in Sociology, of New York, Graduate Center, New York, New City University Program York e-mail: pkasinitz@gc.cuny.edu. 10016-4309; 1

594
0884-8971/06/0300-0031/0 ? 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Review

Essays

of The Purchase

of Intimacy

595

otherwise identical nursing relationships in formal organiza that originate tions (such as nursing homes) have fundamentally different dynamics than those that begin as family ties. David Roelfs and Zheng Zhao synthesize "rules of irrelevance" with Zelizer's connected-lives Erving Goffman's per to analyze the conditions under which market transactions might spective or might not alter the dynamics of intimacy. Louis Esparza and Pablo observe that Zelizer's connected-lives could be used Lapegna perspective to justify progressive or conservative like wages for housework programs like privatization on the surrounding of medical care, depending context. In her response, Professor Zelizer argues that many of political these arguments are consistent with her larger approach. She further notes programs that within these papers constitute economic sociology. a joint challenge to prevailing perspectives

Review

Essays

The Purchase
Viviana

of Intimacy*
A. Zelizer

Essay

1: The Marriage
David Roelfs1

of Markets
and Zheng Zhao1

and Intimacy?

In The Social Meaning Zelizer (1994) argued against mone of Money, theorists such as Simmel (1978:44), who held that modern forms of tary and no longer had social money had been reduced to being "mere means" content. Zelizer showed that people continue to create localized currencies and earmark funds according to source and use in spite of institutional attempts to homogenize In The Purchase money. of Intimacy, Zelizer broadens this argument to address the intersection of economic (2005) transactions and intimacy. According to Zelizer, previous theorists have
* NJ: Princeton Princeton, Press, University 1 of Sociology, State University Department New York 11794-4356. 2005. of New

York

at Stony

Brook,

Stony

Brook,