The Dialectics of Shopping

by Miller, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780226526485
• ISBN10: 0226526488
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Shopping is generally considered to be a pleasurable activity. But in reality it can often be complicated and frustrating. Daniel Miller explores the many contradictions faced by shoppers on a typical street in London, and in the process offers a sophisticated examination of the way we shop, and what it reveals about our relationships to our families and communities, as well as to the environment and the economy as a whole. Miller's companions are mostly women who confront these contradictions as they shop. They placate their children with items that combine nutrition with taste or usefulness with style. They decide between shopping at the local store or at the impersonal, but less expensive, mall. They tell of their sympathy for environmental concerns but somehow avoid much ethical shopping. They are faced with a selection of shops whose shifts and mergers often reveal extraordinary stories of their own. Filled with entertaining--and thoroughly familiar--stories of shoppers and shops, this book will interest scholars across a broad range of disciplines.

Author Biography

Daniel Miller is a professor of anthropology at the University College of London. He is the author or editor of many books, including Material Cultures: Why Some Things Matter, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Anthony T. Carter
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(16)
Appendix	14	(3)
The Dialectics of Kinship	17	(49)
Appendix	57	(9)
The Dialectics of Community	66	(45)
Appendix	107	(4)
The Dialectics of Ethics and Identity	111	(38)
Appendix	145	(4)
The Dialectics of Political Economy	149	(27)
Get ``Real''	176	(31)
Bibliography	207	(12)
Index	219