We constantly hear about 'the consumer'. The 'consumer' has become a ubiquitous person in public discourse and academic research, but who is this person? The Making of the Consumer is the first interdisciplinary study that follows the evolution of the consumer in the modern world, ranging from imperial Britain to contemporary Papua New Guinea, and from the European Union to China. It makes a novel contribution by broadening the study of consumption from a focus on goods and symbols to the changing role and identity of consumers. Offering a historically informed picture of the rise of the consumer to its current prominence, authors discuss the consumer in relation to citizenship and ethics, law and economics, media, work and retailing.
Contributors include:
Donald Winch (University of Sussex)Frank Trentmann (Birkbeck College, University of London)Vanessa Taylor (Birkbeck College, University of London)Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel (CNRS: Centre de Recherches Historiques, cole des Hautes tudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris)Michelle Everson (Birkbeck College, University of London)Erika Rappaport (University of California, Santa Barbara)Uwe Spiekermann (Georg-August University, Gttingen)Jos Gamble (Royal Holloway University)Stephen Kline (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada)Frank Mort (University of Manchester)Ina Merkel (Philipps-Universitt, Marburg, Germany)James G. Carrier (Indiana University and Oxford Brookes University)Ben Fine (SOAS: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)
Edited by:
Professor Frank Trentmann
Imprint: Berg Publishers
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: v. 1
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 14mm
Weight: 527g
ISBN: 9781845202491
ISBN 10: 184520249X
Series: Cultures of Consumption Series
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 01 September 2010
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1. Knowing Consumers: Histories, Identities, Practices: An Introduction Frank Trentmann (Birkbeck College, University of London) Part One Defining Consumers: Consumers in Economics, Law and Civil Society 2. The Problematic Status of the Consumer in Orthodox Economic Thought Donald Winch (University of Sussex) 3. From Users to Consumers: Water Politics in Nineteenth-Century London Frank Trentmann (Birkbeck College, University of London) and Vanessa Taylor (Birkbeck College, University of London) 4. Women and the Ethics of Consumption in France at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel (CNRS: Centre de Recherches Historiques, cole des Hautes tudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France) 5. Legal Constructions of the Consumer Michelle Everson (Birkbeck College, University of London) Part Two Commercial Relations: Retailers, Experts, and the Contested Consumer 6. Packaging China: Foreign Articles and Dangerous Tastes in the Mid-Victorian Tea Party Erika Rappaport (University of California, Santa Barbara) 7. From Neighbour to Consumer: The Transformation of Retailer-Consumer Relationships in Twentieth-Century Germany Uwe Spiekermann (Georg-August University, Goettingen) 8. Consumers with Chinese Characteristics? Local Customers in British and Japanese Multinational Stores in Contemporary China Jos Gamble (Royal Holloway University) 9. A Becoming Subject: Consumer Socialization in the Mediated Marketplace Stephen Kline (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada) Part Three Reframing Consumers and Consumption: Contemporary Culture and Political Economy 10. Competing Domains: Democratic Subjects and Consuming Subjects in Britain and the United States since 1945 Frank Mort (University of Manchester) 11. From Stigma to Cult: Changing Meanings in East German Consumer Culture Ina Merkel (Philipps-Universitt, Marburg, Germany) 12. The Limits of Culture: Political Economy and the Anthropology of Consumption James G. Carrier (Indiana University and Oxford Brookes University) 13. Addressing the Consumer Ben Fine (SOAS: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) Index
Frank Trentmann is Professor of Modern History at Birkbeck College, London, and Director of the Cultures of Consumption Research Programme (ESRC-AHRC).
Reviews for The Making of the Consumer: Knowledge, Power and Identity in the Modern World
'At a time when it has become commonplace to accept the consumer as a timeless and neutral concept, it is vital to question just when, where and how this particular figure appeared. An exciting and important collection that leads consumption studies forward into new territory, this book offers highly relevant and engaged social science which will have a broad appeal.' Professor Richard Wilk, Gender Studies and Anthropology, Indiana University, USA 'Epitomizes the maturity reached by consumer studies. Framed by a far-reaching introduction, the wide-ranging and original essays develop a much-needed genealogical approach to the development of the consumer as a contested social figure embedded both in everyday life and in commercial and public knowledge.' Dr. Roberta Sassatelli, Department of Communication Studies, University of Bologna, Italy 'This bracing collection arrives at a crucial moment in the development of consumption studies. It demonstrates the benefits and tensions that arise when social scientists enter into dialogue with historians over the nature of the field and its future directions. For those of us who have tended to view the world of the consumer through a culturalist lens, the arising debates are revelatory and should inspire much interesting new work.' Professor Christopher Breward, Research Department, Victoria Albert Museum, London, UK
