Consumption / Alan Aldridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Aldridge, Alan (Alan E.)

Series:

Key concepts in the social sciences

Key concepts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consumption (Economics).

Work.

Physical Description:

vi, 168 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK : Polity ; Malden, MA : Distributed in the USA by Blackwell Pub., 2003.

Summary:

Social class and local communities appear to be in irreversible decline in the West. Job insecurity has grown, and fewer people see work as giving meaning to their lives. Instead they turn to consumption for social standing, a sense of identity, and personal fulfilment. We appear to be living through a profound transition from a society based on production to a new social order--the consumer society. This wide-ranging book examines whether consumer society has delivered choice, freedom, and prosperity, or individualism, selfishness, and social exclusion. It analyzes the relationship between the rise of consumerism and the transformation of the world of work, and concludes by examining possible escape routes from consumer society. This lively and relevant book will be essential reading for those interested in sociology and cultural studies, and for those concerned with consumerism as a force for liberation or oppression.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [156]-165) and index.

ISBN:

0745625290

0745625304

OCLC:

51178099