Consumer credit in the United States : a sociological perspective from the 19th century to the present / Donncha Marron.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marron, Donncha.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consumer credit--Social aspects--United States.

Consumer credit--United States.

Consumer credit.

Consumer credit--Social aspects.

United States.

Physical Description:

260 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Summary:

It is commonly imagined that in recent years the rampant growth of consumer credit has lured American consumers into a crippling state of indebtedness, a state that has upended old cultural values of Puritan thrift and stimulated a frenzy of consumption. Drawing on the sociological concept of "government" and informed by a historical perspective, Marron presents a much more complex and nuanced reality. From its early antecedents in nineteenth century salary lending and installment selling, he shows how the emergence and growth of consumer credit in the United States have always been subject to shifting regimes of control and regulation.

Contents:

Fishing for sharks and governing small loans

Consuming by installments : the rise of retail credit

Assembling the automobile, reassembling thrift

Mass credit, mass society, and their discontents

Plastic credit, plastic lifestyles

Credit reporting and consumer surveillance

Risk and technologies of credit scoring

Borrowing on the fringe : the fate of the risky

Risk, identity, and the consumer

"See how lenders see you" : from actuarial to subjective governance

Securing the self

Conclusion : taking life.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

023061518X

9780230615182

OCLC:

268792661

Online:

Contributor biographical information

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