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

Consumption as a field of cultural studies overlaps with theories of postmodernism, the social construction of self, commodification in late capitalism, and the role of mass media in daily life. 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 and interesting roles in daily life that combine consumerism with the most contemporary social forms. This collection of essays examines the recent ways in which consumerism has been approached by cultural studies with special emphasis given to these and other newly emerging topics. The book is divided into three parts. The first part provides a theoretical overview of consumption studies dealing with classical and more contemporary approaches in light of the debate between advocates and critics of postmodernism. In this section there are papers on McDonaldization, tourism and cultural studies, and the Theory of Shopping. The second part emphasizes empirical studies of the commodification process. Papers address the transformation of womenOs bodies and the mass commodification of milk, the creation of the toddler as a subject and the commodification of childhood, the commodification of sports, and the commodification of rock music. The third section of the book explores new forms of consumption on a more detailed and concentrated level. Papers in this section include the rise of sex tourism as a global industry, the commodification of the sacred, and the emergence of new consumer spaces in the city. An introduction by the editor delineates the advantages of his approach to new forms of consumption based squarely in the emerging issues of cultural studies, debates transcending postmodernism, and the society of the spectacle.

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. 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.