Capitalism and the Senses is the first edited volume to explore how the forces of capitalism are entangled with everyday sensory experience. If the senses have a history, as Karl Marx wrote, then that history is inseparable from the development of capitalism, which has both taken advantage of the senses and influenced how sensory experience has changed over time.
This pioneering collection shows how seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching have both shaped and been shaped by commercial interests from the turn of the twentieth century to our own time. From the manipulation of taste and texture in the food industry to the careful engineering of the feel of artificial fabrics, capitalist enterprises have worked to commodify the senses in a wide variety of ways. Drawing on history, anthropology, geography, and other fields, the volume's essays analyze not only where this effort has succeeded but also where the senses have resisted control and the logic of markets. The result is an innovative ensemble that demonstrates how the drive to exploit sensorial experience for profit became a defining feature of capitalist modernity and establishes the senses as an important dimension of the history of capitalism.
Contributors: Nicholas Anderman, Regina Lee Blaszczyk, Jessica P. Clark, Ai Hisano, Lisa Jacobson, Sven Kube, Grace Lees-Maffei, Ingemar Pettersson, David Suisman, Ana Maria Ulloa, Nicole Welk-Joerger.
Edited by:
Regina Lee Blaszczyk,
David Suisman
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781512824209
ISBN 10: 1512824208
Series: Hagley Perspectives on Business and Culture
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 12 July 2023
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Series Editor’s Foreword Roger Horowitz Introduction Regina Lee Blaszczyk and David Suisman Part I. Framing Capitalism and the Senses Chapter 1. “Use Not Perfumery to Flavor Soup”: The Science of the Senses in Aesthetic Capitalism Ai Hisano Chapter 2. Chasing Flavor: Sensory Science and the Economy Ingemar Pettersson Chapter 3. Richer Sounds: Capitalism, Musical Instruments, and the Cold War Sonic Divide Sven Kube Part II. Resisting Rationalization Chapter 4. Altered States and Gustatory Taste: The Sensory Synergies of Whiskey Marketing in the Mid-Twentieth-Century United States Lisa Jacobson Chapter 5. The Psychophysics of Taste and Smell: From Experimental Science to Commercial Tool Ana María Ulloa Chapter 6. Sky’s the Limit: Capitalism, the Senses, and the Failure of Commercial Supersonic Aviation in the United States David Suisman Chapter 7. Sounding Maritime Metal: On Weathering Steel and Listening to Capitalism at Sea Nicholas Anderman Part III. Production Chapter 8. Making Human Trash Tasty: A History of Sweet Cattle Feed in the Progressive Era Nicole Welk-Joerger Chapter 9. Getting a Handle on It: Thomas Lamb, Mass Production, and Touch in Design History Grace Lees-Maffei Part IV. Marketplace Chapter 10. Fragrance and Fair Women: Perfumers and Consumers in Modern London Jessica P. Clark Chapter 11. Sold on Softness: DuPont Synthetics and Sensory Experience Regina Lee Blaszczyk Chapter 12. Feminine Touches: The Sensory World of Lady Hilton Megan J. Elias Notes List of Contributors Index
Regina Lee Blaszczyk is Professor of Business History and Leadership Chair in the History of Business and Society at the University of Leeds. David Suisman is Associate Professor of History at the University of Delaware.
Reviews for Capitalism and the Senses
Industrial capitalism was bent on disciplining the senses in the interests of production. Consumer capitalism seeks to entice the senses to stimulate consumption. The tale of capitalism's shifting investments in the senses needs telling, and this book does so piercingly, brilliantly, sumptuously. * David Howes, Concordia University *
