How are bodies and affects formed in liberal market societies? And, conversely, what roles do affects and bodies play in the genesis and stabilization of and changes to market societies? These are the questions examined by the authors in several insightful and theoretically ambitious case studies. The collection aims to present new approaches from the History of Emotions, Affect Studies, Actor-Network-Theory and other fields, putting them to the test in the analysis of capitalist societies. These investigations - by sociologists, ethnologists and historians - will tackle developments in the USA, Europe and Australia from the 19th through to the 21st Century. They will also - via their analyses of issues such as speculation, industrial production, advertising and ethics - examine historical and contemporary phenomena, shedding light on emerging viewpoints on work, consumption, class and gender. Contributors: Fiona Allon, Peter-Paul Banziger, Franck Cochoy, Christoph Conrad, Alexander Engel, Susan J. Matt, Alexandra Michel, Anne Schmidt, Thomas Welskopp