The Sociology of Consumption: A Global Approach offers college students, scholars, and interested readers a state-of-the-art overview of consumption the desire for, purchase, use, display, exchange, and disposal of goods and services.
The book's global focus, emphasis on social inequality, and analysis of consumer citizenship offer a timely, exciting, and original approach to the topic. Looking beyond the U.S. and Europe, Stillerman engages examples from his and others' research in Chile and other Latin American countries, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and East and South Asia to explore the interaction between global and local forces in consumption. The text explores the lived experience of being a consumer, demonstrating how social inequalities based on class, gender, sexuality, race, and age shape consumer practices and identities. Finally, the book uncovers the important role consumption has played in fueling local and international activism.
This welcome new book will be ideal for classes on consumer culture across the social sciences, humanities, and marketing.
Joel Stillerman
Cultural Studies Konsum Kulturwissenschaften Sociology Soziologie
"With impressive scope and fascinating examples, The Sociology of Consumption offers the first major overview of the field. Stillerman expertly guides readers through the global world of consumption, pointing to major theories and incorporating the newest investigations. A welcome contribution to economic sociology, the book will also attract a broader audience interested in understanding how consumption works."
Viviana A. Zelizer, Princeton University
"Joel Stillerman presents consumption as a multidimensional field of power and expression, where men and women make difficult choices in a world of things, and the rest of us struggle to discover what these choices mean to our ownÑand society'sÑwell-being. This very useful book joins a broad global framework to a rich array of empirical studies to show how consumer citizenship is formed."
Sharon Zukin, Brookyln College and City University New York
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