Research on consumption can shed light on many fundamental questions, such as the character of society, including social and cultural dimensions; the relations between the generations; dependency on technology and the risks involved; the rise of Asia and its potential consumption preferences; the question of whether we must continuously increase our consumption to avoid a recession and whether this is ecologically sustainable. In the field of consumption research there is need for analytical rigor based on theory and empirical evidence as well as discussions that will inspire readers to ask important questions regarding future development. The contributors to this innovative volume are scholars and experts in the field of consumption representing a variety of disciplines such as anthropology, economics, history, marketing, political science, and sociology. This book not only provides readers with a nuanced picture of consumption, but intends to enrich and sharpen the general debate about society today.

Reviews

"Beyond the Consumption provides an insightful and incisive analysis of the social, cultural, economic, and ecological ramifications of an all-consuming, consumer-driven global economy. Through cogent reflections on a broad but interlinked nexus of issues, the authors in this volume deftly investigate consumption as manifested in everyday life and intertwined into broader socio-political structures, imploding many cultural clichés and entrenched ideological dogmas along the way. This book is must reading for anyone interested in understanding the complex ways in which consumption has profoundly shaped society and what societies can do to reconfigure consumption into more sustainable and socially redemptive forms." - Craig J. Thompson, Churchill Professor of Marketing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Contents

@contents:Part I: Editor’s Introduction Karin M. Ekström and Kay Glans Part II: A Changing Society 1. The Economics and the Anti-Economics mption. Deirdre Nansen McCloskey 2. The Hyperconsumption Society. Gilles Lipovetsky 3. Consumption in an Age of Globalization and Localization. Richard Wilk 4. Goods and Service Consumption in the Affluent Welfare State – Issues for the Future. Jan Owen Jansson 5. Consumption beyond Dualism. Daniel Miller Part III: Changing Consumer Roles 6. Selves as Objects of Consumption. Zygmunt Bauman 7. Consumers as Citizens: Tensions and Synergies. Frank Trentmann 8. Political Consumption Revisited: Should We Resist "Consumers’ Resistance"? Franck Cochoy 9. Communities of Purpose. John W. Schouten and Diane M. Martin 10. Value Creation and the Visual Consumer. Jonathan E. Schroeder 11. "Keeping Up With the Children": Changing Consumer Roles in Families. Karin M. Ekström Part IV: The Consumption Bubble and Beyond? 12. Relative Deprivation, Inequality, and Consumer Spending in the United States. Robert H. Frank 13. (Un)sustainable Consumption and the New Political Economy of Growth. Maurie J. ...