Consumer Culture

Celia Lury is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.

"In a now vast literature Celia Lury's new edition stands out for its clarity and critical intelligence. In addition to offering a a guide through the thicket of new and old approaches, this book provides readers with a map to explore how consumption shapes personal and group identities."Frank Trentmann, Birkbeck College"Consumer Culture is a gem of a book. Celia Lury writes with insight, timeliness, and a thorough mastery of the subject. The general reader, the scholar, and the student will read Consumer Culture with the disturbing kind of satisfaction that comes from learning just how deeply consumerism has become a way of life."Charles Lemert, Wesleyan University"Consumer culture is everywhere but we rarely see it. In this second revised edition, Celia Lury takes a number of vivid scenes from our daily lives and provides helpful cultural grounding for questioning our ordinary experiences as consumers. Well organized and well written, the book provides an articulated picture of an increasingly fundamental aspect of contemporary cultures, stressing the role that ethics, subjectivity and difference have in shaping  what consumer culture is today. Offering theoretical definitions and practical examples, this is a user-friendly book which will attract many readers and help them through the predicament of consumer choice and its increasingly relevant symbolic centrality for subjectivity constitution." Roberta Sassatelli, University of Milan

• Introduction: What is consumer culture? Chapter 1 Material Culture and Consumer Culture Chapter 2 Exchanging things: the economy and culture Chapter 3 Objects, subjects and signs Chapter 4 Capital, class and consumer culture Chapter 5 Circuits of culture: gender, race and reflexivity Chapter 6 Brands: markets, media and movement Chapter 7 Consuming ethics, or What goes around, comes around Chapter 8 Consumer Culture, Identity and Politics: when are you (not) a consumer? Bibliography