New Forms of Consumption: Consumers, Culture and Commodification(Postmodern Social Futures)

New forms of consumption such as those facilitated by cyberspace, themed environments, the commodification of sex, and the increasing role of leisure in society all play new an interesting roles in daily life that combine consumerism with the most contemporary social forms. This book examines the recent ways in which consumerism has been studied with special emphasis given to these and other newly emerging topics. Part one provides a theoretical overview of consumption studies dealing with classical and more contemporary approaches in light of the debate between advocates and critics of post-modernism. Part two emphasises empirical studies of the commodification process. Part three explores new forms of consumption on a more detailed and concentrated level.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Theoretical Perspectives Chapter 3 Approaches to Consumption: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives Chapter 4 The Process of McDonaldization is not Uniform nor are Its Settings, Consumers, or the Consumption of Its Goods and Services Chapter 5 Mass Tourism or the Re-enchantment of the World? Issues and Contradictions in the Study of Travel Chapter 6 Shopping and Postmodernism: Consumption, Production, Identity and the Internet Part 7 Case Studies Chapter 8 Brain-Suck Chapter 9 The Rise of "The Toddler" as Subject and as Merchandising Category in the 1930's Chapter 10 The Body and the Country: A Political Ecology of Consumption Chapter 11 Packaging Violence: Media, Story Sequencing and the Perception of Right and Wrong Chapter 12 The Commodifcation of Sports: The Example of Personal Seat Liscenses in Professional Football Chapter 13 The Commodification of Rebellion: Rock Culture and Consumer Capitalism Chapter 14 Fantasy Tours: Exploring the Global Consumption of Carribean Sex Toursims Chapter 15 Commodification and Theming of the Sacred: Changing Patterns of Tourist Consumption in the "Holy Land" Chapter 16 The Consumption of Space and the Spaces of Consumption

About the Author :
Mark Gottdiener is professor of sociology at the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Review :
There is easily a large enough range here to ensure that students have a different topic to engage with interestingly each week of the semester. Social Forces New Forms of Consumption engages the explosion of commodities and consumerism in the present era. Mark Gottdiener provides an excellent overview of classical and contemporary perspectives on consumption while his contributors provide an array of theoretical approaches and case studies that illuminate fields of consumption from McDonald's to mass tourism to sports, rock culture, and shopping. -- Douglas Kellner, University of California, Los Angeles