Cultures of Consumption PDF Download

Author: Frank Mort
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135079927
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Examines the construction of images of masculinity and the effect they have on identity, sexuality and sexual politics. Influences from black and white culture are explored as well as the ironies of class, colour and sexuality.

Author: Grant David McCracken
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253206282
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
"This book compiles and integrates highly innovative work aimed at bridging the fields of anthropology and consumer behavior." —Journal of Consumer Affairs " . . . fascinating . . . ambitious and interesting . . . " —Canadian Advertising Foundation Newsletter " . . . an anthropological dig into consumerism brimming with original thought . . . " —The Globe and Mail "Grant McCracken has written a provocative book that puts consumerism in its place in Western society—at the centre." —Report on Business Magazine " . . . a stimulating addition to knowledge and theory about the interrelationship of culture and consumption." —Choice "[McCracken's] synthesis of anthropological and consumer studies material will give historians new ideas and methods to integrate into their thinking." —Maryland Historian "The book offers a fresh and much needed cultural interpretation of consumption." —Journal of Consumer Policy "The volume will help balance the prevailing cognitive and social psychological cast of consumer research and should stimulate more comprehensive investigation into consumer behavior." —Journal of Marketing Research " . . . broad scope, enthusiasm and imagination . . . a significant contribution to the literature on consumption history, consumer behavior, and American material culture." —Winterhur Portfolio "For this is a superb book, a definitive exploration of its subject that makes use of the full range of available literature." —American Journal of Sociology "McCracken's book is a fine synthesis of a new current of thought that strives to create an interdisciplinary social science of consumption behaviors, a current to which folklorists have much to contribute." —Journal of American Folklore This provocative book takes a refreshing new view of the culture of consumption. McCracken examines the interplay of culture and consumer behavior from the anthropologist's point of view and provides new insights into the way we view ourselves and our society.

Author: Laura Ugolini
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351946692
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
The study of consumption and its relationship to cultural and social values has become a vibrant and important field in recent years. Hitherto however, relatively few detailed and full length works on this topic have been published. In what will become a seminal volume, this book examines retail selling in various historical contexts and locations, as both an activity at once 'mundane' and almost universal. The book introduces the reader to the existing literature relevant to the subject; and explores the widespread perceptions of moral ambiguity surrounding the practice of selling consumer goods - ranging from concerns about the adulteration of goods, to fears about sharp practice on the part of retailers - and places such concerns in the context of wider societal values and ideas. The ambivalence towards retail selling and sellers is also a central focus of the collection, focussing on the attempts by retailers to develop selling techniques and successful practices of salesmanship, and at the same time establish widely-shared understandings of 'good' retailing. The book also delves into the more dubious practices of retail selling, including practices on the margin of legality, the issue of credit and changing attitudes towards debt. Uniquely the book examines how sales techniques relate to the wider context of a whole shopping 'experience' or shopping environment. Taken as a whole, this volume will provide a first port of call for students, researchers and others interested in exploring consumer cultures, and the cultural norms and practices involved in the sale of consumer goods in various historical periods and geographical contexts.

Author: Elizabeth Shove
Publisher: Berg
ISBN: 1847885934
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Has material civilization spun out of control, becoming too fast for our own well-being and that of the planet? This book confronts these anxieties and examines the changing rhythms and temporal organization of everyday life. How do people handle hurriedness, burn-out and stress? Are slower forms of consumption viable? This volume brings together international experts from geography, sociology, history, anthropology and philosophy. In case studies covering the United States, Asia and Europe, contributors follow routines and rhythms, their emotional and political dynamics and show how they are anchored in material culture and everyday practice. Running themes of the book are questions of coordination and disruption; cycles and seasons; and the interplay between power and freedom, and between material and natural forces. The result is a volume that brings studies of practice, temporality and material culture together to open up a new intellectual agenda.

Author: Richard Wightman Fox
Publisher: New York : Pantheon Books
ISBN: 9780394716114
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Essays discuss the history of advertising, consumer culture, modern electioneering, the development of mass market magazines and the industrialization of space

Author: Paul Ransome
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1847871577
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
The central question in Work, Consumption and Culture is whether consumption has now displaced production as the defining factor in the lives of those in the industrialized West. This book offers a comprehensive review of the key issues in the production/consumption debate, and where it might lead in the future. Key to Paul Ransome′s argument is the hypothesis that affluence is the crucial factor in the shift away from work and towards consumption. Uniquely emphasizing the links between work, consumption and culture, rather than keeping each element separate, the author looks at: - the changing significance of work in society - the meaning, growth and significance of affluence - the growing importance of consumption as a source of identity and its implications the impact of the shift to consumption on work/life balance Work, Consumption and Culture engages the reader with its lively debating style. It is an essential introduction for sociology and cultural studies students on courses relating to consumption and the role of work in contemporary society. `This book offers a balanced account of the changing importance of work and consumption in contemporary industrial society. Clearly written, the author identifies the central role that affluence plays in the relationship between work and consumption, and in the development of social life and individual identity′ - Professor Paul Blyton, Cardiff Business School

Author: Don Slater
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9780745603049
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the issues, concepts and theories through which people have tried to understand consumer culture throughout the modern period, and puts the current state of thinking into a broader context. Thematically organized, the book shows how the central aspects of consumer culture - such as needs, choice, identity, status, alienation, objects, culture - have been debated within modern theories, from those of earlier thinkers such as Marx and Simmel to contemporary forms of post-structuralism and postmodernism. This approach introduces consumer culture as a subject which - far from being of narrow or recent interest - is intimately tied to the central issues of modern times and modern social thought. With its reviews of major theorists set within a full account of the development of the subject, this book should be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the many disciplines which now study consumer culture, including communications and cultural studies, anthropology and history.

Author: Roberta Sassatelli
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9781412911818
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
'Roberta Sassatelli has written a thorough and wide-ranging synthetic account of social scientific research on consumption which will set the standard for the second generation of textbooks on cultures of consumption. Consumer Culture is an appealing and lucid introduction to the major themes - historical and contemporary, theoretical and empirical - surrounding the growth, nature and consequences of consumer culture. It will be of professional interest as well as serving a student audience' - Alan Warde, University of Manchester Showing the cultural and institutional processes that have brought the notion of the 'consumer' to life, this book guides the reader on a comprehensive journey through the history of how we have come to understand ourselves as consumers in a consumer society and reveals the profound ambiguities and ambivalences inherent within. While rooted in sociology, Sassatelli draws on the traditions of history, anthropology, geography and economics to give: - A history of the rise of consumer culture around the world; - A richly illustrated analysis of theory from neo-classical economics, to critical theory, to theories of practice and ritual de-commoditization; and - A compelling discussion of the politics underlying our consumption practices. An exemplary introduction to the history and theory of consumer culture, this book provides nuanced answers to some of the most central questions of our time.

Author: Celia Lury
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 081355067X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
The second edition of Consumer Culture explores the nature and role of consumption in modern societies. Celia Lury's up-to-date revision of this successful classic establishes the importance of new object-based studies for consumer culture, and incorporates new chapters on branding and the rise of ethical consumption. Drawing on a wide range of studies, and using contemporary illustrations from the media and popular culture, Lury examines the emergence of consumer culture and the changing relations between the production and consumption of cultural goods. She argues that consumer culture has become increasingly stylized and now provides an important context for everyday creativity. This new edition of Consumer Culture explores the way in which the position of individuals within social groups and their position in social groups structured by class, gender, race, and age affects the nature of their participation in consumer culture. The powerful role consumption plays in our lives is revealed and consumer culture is seen to provide new ways of creating social and political identities.

Author: Dale Southerton
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 0872896013
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1665

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Book Description
The Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture is the first reference work to outline the parameters of consumer culture and provide a critical, scholarly resource on consumption and consumerism.