[This book]. is an ethnographic study arguing that a bridge connecting Malmo, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark, has similar cultural effects as a common European currency. Peebles (anthropology, The New School), who lived in Malmo during the construction of the Oresund Bridge, is primarily concerned with boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. He simplifies the world by defining several visions of the ideal, or what he calls utopian visions, and argues that proponents of the bridge had similar utopian visions as those who favored the euro. Both wanted to alter people's sense of identity from being part of a nation to being part of a transnational group. He draws similar parallels between those who opposed the bridge and those who advocated local currency rings, which he treats with more respect than most economists would give them. Along the way he ties in attitudes toward debt and bankruptcy, vagrancy, and immigration. Issues central to Peebles's discussion are ignored by economists, while issues that interest economists are not addressed in this work.

Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through faculty and research collections. -- ChoiceR. E. Schenk, emeritus, Saint Joseph's College (IN)--R. E. Schenk, emeritus, Saint Joseph's College (IN) (01/01/2012).