Contradictions of Consumption

Contradictions of Consumption
Author: Tim Edwards
Publisher:
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

"A critical introduction to the field that manages to be both considered and argumentative, and stands out distinctly from the more 'culturalist' alternatives available . . . it should provide a strong text for undergraduate courses." Don Slater, Goldsmiths College, University of London * How has consumer society developed? * What are the social divisions, politics and policies associated with consumption? * How do consumer practices have social significance? This lively and accessible text shows how consumption is increasingly important in dominating our individual lives and indeed the entire development and direction of contemporary society, nationally and internationally. Consumption is inherently contradictory in its nature and meaning. The most rapturous form of shopping, for example clothes purchasing on unlimited plastic in a shopping mall, may turn into the most tortuous as the shopper tires, the clothes don't fit, and the car park is cramped. Tim Edwards argues that the practice of consumption itself and consumer society more widely is often socially divisive and iniquitous, and examines the extent to which consumer power is real or illusory. He provides a thorough analysis and critique of the theories, practices and politics of consumer society. In particular, this book addresses the social divisions of consumption through topics such as fashion, advertising and marketing, as well as more classical and contemporary theories of consumer society. It will appeal to a wide range of students in sociology, cultural studies, social policy and the politics of identity.

Addictive Consumption

Addictive Consumption
Author: Gerda Reith
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2018-09-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429875649

In this engaging new book, Gerda Reith explores key theoretical concepts in the sociology of consumption. Drawing on the ideas of Foucault, Marx and Bataille, amongst others, she investigates the ways that understandings of ‘the problems of consumption’ change over time, and asks what these changes can tell us about their wider social and political contexts. Through this, she uses ideas about both consumption and addiction to explore issues around identity and desire, excess and control and reason and disorder. She also assesses how our concept of 'normal' consumption has grown out of efforts to regulate behaviour historically considered as disruptive or deviant, and how in the contemporary world the 'dark side' of consumption has been medicalised in terms of addiction, pathology and irrationality. By drawing on case studies of drugs, food and gambling, the volume demonstrates the ways in which modern practices of consumption are rooted in historical processes and embedded in geopolitical structures of power. It not only asks how modern consumer culture came to be in the form it is today, but also questions what its various manifestations can tell us about wider issues in capitalist modernity. Addictive Consumption offers a compelling new perspective on the origins, development and problems of consumption in modern society. The volume’s interdisciplinary profile will appeal to scholars and students in sociology, psychology, history, philosophy and anthropology.

Contradictions of Consumption

Contradictions of Consumption
Author: Tim Edwards
Publisher:
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

He provides a thorough analysis and critique of the theories, practices and politics of consumer society. In particular, this book addresses the social divisions of consumption through topics such as fashion, advertising and marketing, as well as more classical and contemporary theories of consumer society. It will appeal to a wide range of students in sociology, cultural studies, social policy and the politics of identity."--Jacket.

Race, Ethnicity, and Consumption

Race, Ethnicity, and Consumption
Author: Patricia A. Banks
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2020-07-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351356305

Race, Ethnicity, and Consumption: A Sociological View looks at the central concerns of consumer culture through the lens of race and ethnicity. Each chapter illustrates the connections between race, ethnicity, and consumption by focusing on a specific theme: identity, crossing cultures, marketing and advertising, neighborhoods, discrimination, and social activism. By exploring issues such as multicultural marketing, cultural appropriation, consumer racial profiling, urban food deserts, and racialized political consumerism, students, scholars, and other curious readers will gain insight on the ways that racial and ethnic boundaries shape, and are shaped by, consumption. This book goes beyond the typical treatments of race and ethnicity in introductory texts on consumption by not only providing a comprehensive overview of the major theories and concepts that sociologists use to make sense of consumption, race, and ethnicity, but also by examining these themes within distinctly contemporary contexts such as digital platforms and activism. Documenting the complexities and contradictions within consumer culture, Race, Ethnicity, and Consumption is an excellent text for sociology courses on consumers and consumption, race and ethnicity, the economy, and inequality. It will also be an informative resource for courses on consumer culture in the broader social sciences, marketing, and the humanities.

A Theory of Shopping

A Theory of Shopping
Author: Daniel Miller
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2013-05-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0745667910

A Theory of Shopping offers a highly original perspective on one of our most basic everyday activities - shopping. We commonly assume that shopping is primarily concerned with individuals and materialism. But Miller rejects this assumption and follows the surprising route of analysing shopping by means of an analogy with anthropological studies of sacrificial ritual. He argues that the act of purchasing goods is almost always linked to other social relations, and most especially those based on love and care. The ethnographic sections of the book are based on a year's study of shopping on a street in North London. This provides the basis for a sensitive description of the issues the shopper confronts when making decisions as to what to buy. Miller develops a theory to account for these observations, arguing that shopping typically consists of three major stages which reflect the three key stages of many rites of sacrifice. In both shopping and sacrifice the ultimate intention is to constitute others as desiring subjects. Finally the book examines certain historical shifts in both subjects and objects of devotion, in particular, ideals of gender and love. This treatment of shopping from the perspective of comparative anthropology represents a highly innovative approach to one of the most familiar tasks of our daily lives. Written in a clear and accessible manner, this book will be of interest to students and academics in anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, as well as anybody who wants to consider more deeply the nature of their own everyday activities.

Routledge Handbook on Consumption

Routledge Handbook on Consumption
Author: Margit Keller
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2017-02-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317380908

Consumption research is burgeoning across a wide range of disciplines. The Routledge Handbook on Consumption gathers experts from around the world to provide a nuanced overview of the latest scholarship in this expanding field. At once ambitious and timely, the volume provides an ideal map for those looking to position their work, find new analytic insights and identify research gaps. With an intuitive thematic structure and resolutely international outlook, it engages with theory and methodology; markets and businesses; policies, politics and the state; and culture and everyday life. It will be essential reading for students and scholars across the social and economic sciences.

Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism

Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism
Author: David Harvey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2014
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 019936026X

David Harvey examines the foundational contradictions of capital, and reveals the fatal contradictions that are now inexorably leading to its end

Reshaping Capitalism in Weimar and Nazi Germany

Reshaping Capitalism in Weimar and Nazi Germany
Author: Moritz Föllmer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108983634

Arguing that capitalism had a significant presence in Weimar and Nazi Germany, but in a different guise from before World War I, this volume sheds fresh light on the question of how Adolf Hitler and his followers came to power and were able to gain widespread support.

New Forms of Consumption

New Forms of Consumption
Author: Mark Gottdiener
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780847695706

Consumption as a field of cultural studies overlaps with theories of postmodernism, the social construction of self, commodification in late capitalism, and the role of mass media in daily life. New forms of consumption such as those facilitated by cyberspace, themed environments, the commodification of sex, and the increasing role of leisure in society all play new and interesting roles in daily life that combine consumerism with the most contemporary social forms. This collection of essays examines the recent ways in which consumerism has been approached by cultural studies with special emphasis given to these and other newly emerging topics. The book is divided into three parts. The first part provides a theoretical overview of consumption studies dealing with classical and more contemporary approaches in light of the debate between advocates and critics of postmodernism. In this section there are papers on McDonaldization, tourism and cultural studies, and the Theory of Shopping. The second part emphasizes empirical studies of the commodification process. Papers address the transformation of women's bodies and the mass commodification of milk, the creation of the toddler as a subject and the commodification of childhood, the commodification of sports, and the commodification of rock music. The third section of the book explores new forms of consumption on a more detailed and concentrated level. Papers in this section include the rise of sex tourism as a global industry, the commodification of the sacred, and the emergence of new consumer spaces in the city. An introduction by the editor delineates the advantages of his approach to new forms of consumption based squarely in the emerging issues of cultural studies, debates transcending postmodernism, and the society of the spectacle.

Consumption and Management

Consumption and Management
Author: Bingxin Wu
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 511
Release: 2011-10-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1908818077

The author's consumption theory has been known as the new ideas, new theories and new contribution to the reform and development in China. In practice, the author has rich experience of the Chinese state-owned large enterprise, and personal experience of building a business empire second to the postal system in China from a small firm to the comprehensive largest privately owned enterprise with 640 affiliated companies, 13,500 workstations, and 157,000 employees. In the fermentation field of medicine, he has 20 patents, two of which are international patents. These techniques have made some of the Chinese medicines more efficient, safe and non-toxic for the effect of conservation treatment. Therefore, this book has two parts: 1) new discovery of consumption and its significance and 2) application of the theoretical findings in real life management.