Description
Book SynopsisGlobalization and consumerism are two of the buzzwords of the early twenty-first century. In Consuming Cultures, renowned scholars explore the links between modernity and consumption. The book fills a gap in contemporary thinking on the subject by approaching it from a truly global point-of-view. It draws on case studies from around the world, with Africa, Asia and Central America featuring as prominently as Western countries. A transnational perspective allows the authors to investigate the diversity of consumer cultures and the interaction between them. The authors look at the genealogy of the modern consumer and the development of consumer cultures, from the porcelain trade and consumption in Britain and China in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to post Second World War developments in America and Japan, and the contemporary consumer politics of cosmopolitan citizenship. Challenging and pioneering, Consuming Cultures problematizes popular accounts of globalization and consumerism, decentring the West and concentrating on putting history back into these accounts.
Trade Review'We may live today in a global consumer society, but until Brewer and Trentmann's important book the study of consumption remained tied to narrowly defined times and places. They offer us an enticing feast of new insights spanning East and West, North and South, past and present, consuming and resisting. Indulge yourself!' Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard University and author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America'There may be lots of books on consumption, but very few of them reach anywhere close to the novelty and verve of this book. By concentrating on the multiple histories and geographies of the world of goods, the editors have produced a collection in which consumer objects speak back to us in all their density of use and meaning. A vital text.' Nigel Thrift, University of Oxford'Genuinely international and cross-disciplinary perspectives are promised and delivered.'Economic History Review'This edited book is a contribution to the
Table of Contents1. The Modern Evolution of the Consumer: Meanings, Knowledge, and Identities Before the Age of Affluence Frank Trentmann, Birkbeck College 2. Brand Management and the Productivity of Consumption Adam Arvidsson, University of Copenhagen 3. On the Movement of Porcelains: Rethinking the Birth of the Consumer Society as Interactions of Exchange Networks, China and Britain, 1600-1750 Robert Batchelor, Georgia Southern University 4. Consumer Culture and Extractive Industry on the Margins of the World System Richard Wilk, Indiana University 5. 'Flowers of Paradise' or 'Polluting of the Nation'? Contested Narratives of Khat Consumption David Anderson and Neil Carrier, Oxford University 6. Chewing Gum: American Taste and the 'Shadowlands' of the Yukatan Michael Redclift, Kings College London 7. Japan's Post-war 'Consumer Revolution,' or Striking a 'Balance' between Consumption and Saving Sheldon Garon, Princeton University 8. Trust, Food and Contestation: From the Buying Nothing Day to Fair Trade Goods Roberta Sassatelli, University of East Anglia and University of Bologna 9. Renegotiating the Social Contract in Post-War Europe: The American Marshall Plan and Consumer Democracy Sheryl Kroen, University of Florida 10. Emerging Global Water Welfarism: Access to Water, Unruly Consumers and Transnational Governance Bronwen Morgan, University of Bristol
