Addictive Consumption : Capitalism, Modernity and Excess

ISBN-13: 9780415268271 / Angielski / Miękka / 2018 / 178 str.

Gerda Reith

Opis

In this engaging new book Gerda Reith introduces the key theoretical concepts in the sociology of consumption, considering the work of Foucault, Bataille and Bourdieu, amongst others. Through this she addresses the role of consumption in the creation of individual identity and in the formation of social groups based on lifestyle and leisure pursuits. She also assesses how our concept of 'normal' consumption has grown out of efforts to regulate behaviour which might otherwise be defined as disruptive or deviant and how in the contemporary world the 'dark side' of consumption has been medicalized in terms of addiction, pathology and irrationality.
In the second half of the book she presents four extended case studies of gambling, drugs, shopping and food in which students are encouraged to apply the theoretical concepts which were introduced in the first part of the book.
Addicitive Consumption: Capitalism, Modernity and Excess will be essential reading for students of consumption, sociology and cultural studies.

O autorze

Gerda Reith is Professor of Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow, UK. Her research interests lie in the intersections of sociology, political economy, public health and psychology, with a particular focus on the substantive areas of consumption, risk and addiction. She has written and lectured extensively on the empirical and theoretical issues around these topics, and her work has been translated into a number of languages, including Korean, Chinese, Spanish and Hungarian. Her book, The Age of Chance: Gambling in Western Culture (Routledge) won the Philip Abrams Prize for the best book in sociology for 2000.