{"product_id":"excess-anti-consumerism-in-the-west-hardback-9780745645407","title":"Excess; Anti-consumerism in the West (Hardback) 9780745645407","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eExcess\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eAnti-consumerism in the West\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eKim Humphery (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780745645407, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 6 November 2009\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e224 pages\u003cbr\u003e21.8 x 14.8 x 2.6 cm, 0.463 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"Highly recommended. Graduate students\/faculty.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eChoice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\"A fascinating exploration of what anti-consumerism (as cultural interpretation, lifestyle change, and collective action) means for the future of political debate, especially in the context of the recent economic crisis.\"\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eLong Range Planning\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Written in accessible if academic prose, Humphery's book explores this question in more complex and nuanced ways than is often the case in existing theoretical and populist reactions, which naively reject consumerism outright.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGreen World\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"[A] sophisticated analysis of consumerism.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Australian\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"There could hardly be a more timely issue - nor a more compelling study of the historical and political implications of the excess that may well be crushing the world as we knew it.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eCharles Lemert, Wesleyan University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Excess\u003c\/i\u003e offers an insightful view of the many dimensions of consumption reformers must address—from the waste economy to environmental degradation, and from unhappiness at too much choice to the stress of too little money. Humphery dares us to hope that we can create a better vision of the good life without giving up our pleasures.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSharon Zukin, Brooklyn College, and author of \u003ci\u003ePoint of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eOver-consumption is one of the key issues of our time, especially in the Western world. Over the past decade, in the face of historically unprecedented levels of consumer spending in the West - and the more recent impact of recession - a vigorous politics of anti-consumerism has emerged in a range of wealthy nations. \u003cp\u003eThis timely and original new book provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of what has come to be called the 'new politics of consumption'; a politics embodied in movements such as culture jamming, simple living, slow food and fair trade. The book offers an examination of anti-consumerism at a time when the idea of 'consumer excess' is being re-framed by a global economic downturn, and crucially explores what this means for the future of political debate. Drawing on interviews with activists across three continents, and offering a refreshingly accessible discussion of contemporary commentary and theory, Kim Humphery sympathetically explores anti-consumerism as cultural interpretation, lifestyle change, and collective action.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhilst analysing the positive advances of the anti-consumerist movement, \u003ci\u003eExcess\u003c\/i\u003e also challenges contemporary critical thinking on consumption, taking issue with the return to theories of mass culture in contemporary anti-consumerist polemic. Alternatively, Humphery begins to forge a politics of anti-consumerism that addresses the complexity of material acquisition and which avoids treating consumers as mere dupes in the logic of capitalism, viewing them instead as active participants in a culture which is capable of transformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface vii\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements xiv\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntroduction: Trouble in Consumer Paradise 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 The New Politics of Consumption 15\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 Anti-Consumerism in Action 49\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 Encountering Anti-Consumerism 81\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 Interpreting Material Life 110\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 Consuming Differently 153\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostscript: After the Boom, Beyond the West 178\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotes 184\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBibliography 230\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex 254\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Sociology \u0026amp; anthropology [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Sociology \u0026amp; anthropology\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Sociology%20\u0026amp;%20anthropology%20%5BJH%5D%22\"\u003eJH\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52407312449816,"sku":"9780745645407","price":49.89,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9780745645407.jpg?v=1784160842","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/excess-anti-consumerism-in-the-west-hardback-9780745645407","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}