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This book investigates various forms of political and ethical consumerism in the United States and delivers a comprehensive conceptualization of the consumer's role in the marketplace. Both aspects, the potential impact of market-based activism on corporations in America and the socio-structural dynamics that may prevent the possibility of far-reaching social change through forms of alternative consumerism, are equally important in this regard. The historical ties between politics and consumption in America, and the diminishing role of the government as a regulatory force in the market since the end of Fordism, has spawned a unique form of consumer politics directed at the corporate world. The underlying question to be answered is whether the consumer is truly a force to be reckoned with.
List of contents
Contents: Interdisciplinary approach to political consumerism - The consumer as social actor - Distinction, cultural capital and alternative consumption - Politicizing the consumer in America - Lifestyles and consumption - Alternative consumption in the age of the superbrand - Consumption as civic participation - Consumption and postmodernism.
About the author
Christian Gunkel studied American Studies and Sociology at the University of Tübingen (Germany). He is currently working for the university¿s American Studies Department as an instructor and researcher focusing on green consumerism in the United States.
