Buying Power - A History of Consumer Activism in America

Informationen zum Autor Lawrence B. Glickman is professor of history at the University of South Carolina. He is the author of A Living Wage: American Workers and the Making of Consumer Society . Klappentext A definitive history of consumer activism, Buying Power traces the lineage of this political tradition back to our nation's founding, revealing that Americans used purchasing power to support causes and punish enemies long before the word boycott even entered our lexicon. Taking the Boston Tea Party as his starting point, Lawrence Glickman argues that the rejection of British imports by revolutionary patriots inaugurated a continuous series of consumer boycotts, campaigns for safe and ethical consumption, and efforts to make goods more broadly accessible. He explores abolitionist-led efforts to eschew slave-made goods, African American consumer campaigns against Jim Crow, a 1930s refusal of silk from fascist Japan, and emerging contemporary movements like slow food. Uncovering previously unknown episodes and analyzing famous events from a fresh perspective, Glickman illuminates moments when consumer activism intersected with political and civil rights movements. He also sheds new light on activists' relationship with the consumer movement, which gave rise to lobbies like the National Consumers League and Consumers Union as well as ill-fated legislation to create a federal Consumer Protection Agency. Zusammenfassung Far from ephemeral consumer trends! buying green and avoiding sweatshop-made clothing represent the most recent points on a centuries-long continuum of American consumer activism. This book presents the history of this political tradition. It traces its lineage back to our nation's founding.

Product details

• Authors: Lawrence B Glickman, Lawrence B. Glickman, Glickman Lawrence B.
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.07.2009
• EAN: 9780226298658
• ISBN: 978-0-226-29865-8
• No. of pages: 424
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Cultural history; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Business > General, dictionaries; USA, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / Political Advocacy, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Consumer Behavior, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, Social and cultural history, United States of America, USA, Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action, Consumerism, Pressure groups & lobbying, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Activism & Social Justice