Kathryn Tanner's book Economy of Grace is the work of a constructive Christian theologian who is interested in bringing the resources of theology to bear on the seemingly intractable problems wrought by late capitalism. She envisions her project as contributing to an opening up of intellectual space for the development of alternatives to capitalism and she looks to the Christian tradition for a way to challenge the hegemonic power of late capitalism in our world. What she offers is a new paradigm for organising the global economy in ways that are consistent with the theological concept of grace.
Tanner begins by distancing herself from traditional theological approaches to economic issues that focus on searching the scriptures for attention to economic themes (e.g. usury, jubilee, renunciation of wealth). In her judgement this approach marginalises economic issues to a ‘second tier of theological concern’. Instead, Tanner focuses on making economic issues and questions central to our understanding of Christian faith.
The strength of Tanner's assessment of the relationship between Christianity and economic life is her insistence that a Christian theological perspective must account for the unjust powers and principalities that benefit from the current economic order rather than simply mining scripture and tradition for instruction on how individuals should behave. Instead of focusing on the behaviour of Christians in the marketplace, Tanner is interested in reconfiguring our understanding of the marketplace itself. Her suggestion that the Christian norm of neighbour-love can function as a guiding principle of our economic actions, while hardly new, bears repeating in the current economic climate.
In contrast to current neo-liberal capitalist ideology which is rooted in the presumption of self-interest and orientated toward profit maximisation, Tanner argues that an ‘economy of grace’ starts with a different set of assumptions, namely, that goods should circulate without self-sacrifice and for the benefit of others. The heart of Tanner's theological vision for the economy is rooted in the idea of grace as a ‘gift’ freely given by God without any requirements in return. Tanner argues that if a truly deep generosity were to form the core of our economic arrangements then we would stop worrying about whether or not people were ‘deserving’ of economic and social benefits. Instead, we could focus on caring for people's needs out of genuine concern for our common humanity and recognition that we are called to respond to God's grace poured out for us with just this kind of generosity of spirit towards others. She argues that it is by the measure of God's grace towards humanity that we should judge our current economic arrangements.
Tanner makes a strong argument that her theological vision of non-competition, generosity and the elimination of Lockean notions of private property should be at the heart of Christian theology and life. She exhibits a deep concern for the practicality of her vision and argues that her theological economy is no utopia, but an alternative economic vision that has the potential of disrupting from within at the very points where it intersects and clashes with global capitalism.
Tanner's practical application of her theological principle of an economy of grace to the real world of global capitalism is at its best when she examines how it might help us rethink welfare provisions as a human right rather than an undeserved benefit and when she argues that negative externalities such as environmental degradation allow for the benefit of some at the expense of others. However, her ability to translate her theological vision into a realistic model of transformation, or even reform, falls short of what she promises. While she mentions potential strategies such as land reform, the efficient use of tax revenues, fair trade and taxes on financial trades, none of these ideas are either new or seen in a new light through her theological lens.
To be sure, the problems of global capitalism are formidable and certainly beyond the possibility of any simple solutions. Still, I would have appreciated more examples such as her discussion of welfare which demonstrated more clearly how her theological economy might offer a new way for Christians to think about the seemingly intractable problems that we face in a world dominated by global capitalism and greed. While it is unclear how her discussion of Pierre Bourdieu and structuralism in the first chapter add much of import to her argument, the book is worth reading for the second chapter alone where her theological development of the notion of grace as a model for economic behaviour offers much food for thought for Christians concerned about contemporary economic issues in our globalising world.
