The social construction of interest :
on-line gambling and human organs
pp. 155-180
Market operation is based on the existence of material interests and reasonable, moderate passions rather than insatiable, potentially harmful ones. Interest is not a natural given but a social construct. We examine how interest was constructed through the creation of an on-line gambling market and why comparable construction failed in the case of human organs for transplant purposes. We study the market arrangements that make it possible to sell goods whose commodity status is contested on moral grounds.