Helene Brembeck - Böcker

The very routines of our daily life are to a great extent the expression of our vulnerability and dependence on incredibly wide and complex networks and socio-technical systems. Following people’s routes in the city, makes visible the differentially distributed capacities and potentials for mobility. In today’s consumer society, shopping is the kind of mundane and routine mobility that we all engage in. Yet having a first child or growing old radically changes people’s logistical habits as consumers, what the authors of this book call consumer logistics; moving from home to the store and back home again with recent purchases. Depending on the ages and number of children in the family and the condition of one’s body (physical health and strength), going shopping requires quite different settings and gear. Exploring consumer mobility through the lens of life phase and age will deepen the understanding of hitherto under-researched aspects of the ageing process, and of mobility, knowledge that is of vital importance for societies striving for sustainable mobility and sustainable cities.

While the dynamics of market attachments have been extensively analyzed, the implied other to this – market detachments – have not. This book addresses this imbalance and investigates economies of detachment or the processes whereby various elements or relations in markets are removed or severed.Market organizations and dynamics involve myriad processes of attachment – good and bad. Recent work within the new economic sociology has documented how the arts of attachment are implicated in the technical, organizational and social functions of markets. This work highlights the complexities of market attachments as both material links and subjective or affective ties. It also foregrounds attachment as a variable relation, often dependent on its implied other: detachment. However, while the first term of this relation is relatively well known, the second is seriously under-researched and deserves far more attention. Key questions explored are: what is detachment; how does it work and what are the theoretical underpinnings and implications of this concept? How do practices and strategies of detachment configure and ‘re-agence’ markets? How do markets provoke attitudes and dispositions of detachment? How do detachment strategies become qualified as political and with what consequences? The authors in this unique collection explore these questions using an array of empirical cases ranging from fast fashion to food supply chains, energy savings schemes to unpackaged food. Working across economic sociology, science and technology studies (STS), cultural studies, politics and consumer research they highlight the complexities, significance and impacts of ‘letting go’ in market configurations. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Consumption, Markets & Culture.

While the dynamics of market attachments have been extensively analyzed, the implied other to this – market detachments – have not. This book addresses this imbalance and investigates economies of detachment or the processes whereby various elements or relations in markets are removed or severed.Market organizations and dynamics involve myriad processes of attachment – good and bad. Recent work within the new economic sociology has documented how the arts of attachment are implicated in the technical, organizational and social functions of markets. This work highlights the complexities of market attachments as both material links and subjective or affective ties. It also foregrounds attachment as a variable relation, often dependent on its implied other: detachment. However, while the first term of this relation is relatively well known, the second is seriously under-researched and deserves far more attention. Key questions explored are: what is detachment; how does it work and what are the theoretical underpinnings and implications of this concept? How do practices and strategies of detachment configure and ‘re-agence’ markets? How do markets provoke attitudes and dispositions of detachment? How do detachment strategies become qualified as political and with what consequences? The authors in this unique collection explore these questions using an array of empirical cases ranging from fast fashion to food supply chains, energy savings schemes to unpackaged food. Working across economic sociology, science and technology studies (STS), cultural studies, politics and consumer research they highlight the complexities, significance and impacts of ‘letting go’ in market configurations. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Consumption, Markets & Culture.

The very routines of our daily life are to a great extent the expression of our vulnerability and dependence on incredibly wide and complex networks and socio-technical systems. Following people’s routes in the city, makes visible the differentially distributed capacities and potentials for mobility. In today’s consumer society, shopping is the kind of mundane and routine mobility that we all engage in. Yet having a first child or growing old radically changes people’s logistical habits as consumers, what the authors of this book call consumer logistics; moving from home to the store and back home again with recent purchases. Depending on the ages and number of children in the family and the condition of one’s body (physical health and strength), going shopping requires quite different settings and gear. Exploring consumer mobility through the lens of life phase and age will deepen the understanding of hitherto under-researched aspects of the ageing process, and of mobility, knowledge that is of vital importance for societies striving for sustainable mobility and sustainable cities.

In the context of rising consumerism and globalization, books on consumption are numerous. These tend to be firmly rooted in particular disciplines, however sociology, anthropology, business or cultural studies and as a result often present a blinkered view. Charged with the mission of unravelling what consumption means and how it operates, the worlds leading experts were flown to a secluded location in Sweden to 'battle it out'. This pioneering book represents the outcome. Ranging from the 'little black dress' to on-line communities, Elusive Consumption challenges our very understanding of consumerism. How successful is the advertising world in manipulating our buying patterns? Does the global marketplace promote cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity? Is the West really more of a 'consumerist civilization' than other countries? Does the advertising of certain products influence a voters choice of political party? How are products associated and marketed to different genders? These controversial topics and many more are discussed. Covering virtually every aspect of the word 'consumerism', Elusive Consumption provides a state-of-the-art view of the highly commercialized society we inhabit today. Some might have it that consumers are unwitting pawns, completely lacking in agency. Others might argue that consumer choices are empowering and subtly shape production. Richard Wilk, Colin Campbell, John F. Sherry, Richard Elliott, Russell Belk, and Daniel Miller who offers the most persuasive argument in this battle royal?

In the context of rising consumerism and globalization, books on consumption are numerous. These tend to be firmly rooted in particular disciplines, however sociology, anthropology, business or cultural studies and as a result often present a blinkered view. Charged with the mission of unravelling what consumption means and how it operates, the worlds leading experts were flown to a secluded location in Sweden to 'battle it out'. This pioneering book represents the outcome. Ranging from the 'little black dress' to on-line communities, Elusive Consumption challenges our very understanding of consumerism. How successful is the advertising world in manipulating our buying patterns? Does the global marketplace promote cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity? Is the West really more of a 'consumerist civilization' than other countries? Does the advertising of certain products influence a voters choice of political party? How are products associated and marketed to different genders? These controversial topics and many more are discussed. Covering virtually every aspect of the word 'consumerism', Elusive Consumption provides a state-of-the-art view of the highly commercialized society we inhabit today. Some might have it that consumers are unwitting pawns, completely lacking in agency. Others might argue that consumer choices are empowering and subtly shape production. Richard Wilk, Colin Campbell, John F. Sherry, Richard Elliott, Russell Belk, and Daniel Miller who offers the most persuasive argument in this battle royal?

By exploring how various types of convenience food have become embedded in consumers’ lives, it considers what lessons can be learnt from the commercial success of convenience food for those who seek to promote healthier and more sustainable diets.