Decoding Modern Consumer Societies

Modern societies are consumer societies, but rigorous research into this dimension has only begun fairly recently. The knowledge that historians and social scientists have produced is impressive, but also bewilderingly diverse and sometimes conflicting. This comprehensive volume seeks to take stock of their work and discuss future research agendas. Drawing on a wide range of studies of Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa, the contributions gathered here consider how political history, business history, the history of science, cultural history, gender history, intellectual history, anthropology, and even environmental history can help us decode modern consumer societies.