New Forms of Consumption Consumers, Culture, and Commodification

by Gottdiener, Mark; Arditi, Jorge; Bramlett, Matthew D.; Cerulo, Karen A.; Cook, Daniel Thomas; DuPuis, E Melanie; Gottdiener, Mark; Halton, Eugene; Mullings, Beverly; Oh, Minjoo; Ovadia, Seth; Ritzer, George; Rojek, Chris; Seiler, Cotten; Shoval, Noam; Slo

• ISBN13: 9780847695706
• ISBN10: 0847695700
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

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 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 postmodernism. Part Two emphasizes empirical studies of the commodification process. Part Three explores new forms of consumption on a more detailed and concentrated level. Mark Gottdiener currently teaches at the University of Buffalo.

Author Biography

Mark Gottdiener is professor of sociology at the State University of New York, Buffalo

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Introduction	ix
M. Gottdiener
Part I: Theoretical Perspectives
Approaches to Consumption: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives	3	(30)
M. Gottdiener
The Process of McDonaldization Is Not Uniform, nor Are Its Settings, Consumers, or the Consumption of Its Goods and Services	33	(18)
George Ritzer
Seth Ovadia
Mass Tourism or the Re-Enchantment of the World? Issues and Contradictions in the Study of Travel	51	(20)
Chris Rojek
Shopping and Postmodernism: Consumption, Production, Identity, and the Internet	71	(22)
Minjoo Oh
Jorge Arditi
Part II: Case Studies
Brain-Suck	93	(18)
Eugene Halton
The Rise of ``The Toddler'' as Subject and as Merchandising Category in the 1930s	111	(20)
Daniel Thomas Cook
The Body and the Country: A Political Ecology of Consumption	131	(22)
E. Melanie DuPuis
Packaging Violence: Media, Story Sequencing, and the Perception of Right and Wrong	153	(24)
Karen A. Cerulo
The Commodification of Sports: The Example of Personal Seat Licenses in Professional Football	177	(26)
Matthew D. Bramlett
Mark Sloan
The Commodification of Rebellion: Rock Culture and Consumer Capitalism	203	(24)
Cotten Seiler
Fantasy Tours: Exploring the Global Consumption of Caribbean Sex Tourisms	227	(24)
Beverley Mullings
Commodification and Theming of the Sacred: Changing Patterns of Tourist Consumption in the ``Holy Land''	251	(14)
Noam Shoval
The Consumption of Space and the Spaces of Consumption	265	(22)
M. Gottdiener
Index	287	(10)
About the Contributors	297