In this landmark book, sociologist Viviana Zelizer traces the emergence of the modern child, at once economically 'useless' and emotionally 'priceless,' from the late 1800s to the 1930s. Having established laws removing many children from the marketplace, turn-of-the-century America was discovering new, sentimental criteria to determine a child's monetary worth. The heightened emotional status of children resulted, for example, in the legal justification of children's life insurance policies and in large damages awarded by courts to their parents in the event of death. A vivid account of changing attitudes toward children, this book dramatically illustrates the limits of economic views of life that ignore the pervasive role of social, cultural, emotional, and moral factors in our marketplace world.

作者简介：

维维安娜·泽利泽（Viviana A. Zelizer），美国当代杰出的经济社会学家， 古根汉奖学金社会科学类得主，曾任美国经济社会学学会主席，普林斯顿大学社会学教授。主要研究领域为经济社会学，关注经济的文化与道德维度。她开创的“泽利泽视角”对该研究领域有着重要影响。代表作：《道德与市场：美国人寿保险的发展》、《给无价的孩子定价：变迁中的儿童社会价值》、《金钱的社会意义》、《亲密关系的购买》。

译者简介：

王水雄，副教授，中国人民大学社会学理论与方法研究中心、社会与人口学院社会学系系主任，《社会学评论》杂志编辑部主任。主要研究方向为博弈论、组织理论、经济社会学。