Routledge Consuming Behaviours: Identity, Politics and Pleasure in Twentieth-Century Britain

In twentieth-century Britain, consumerism increasingly defined and redefined individual and social identities. New types of consumers emerged: the idealized working-class consumer, the African consumer and the teenager challenged the prominent position of the middle and upper-class female shopper. Linking politics and pleasure, Consuming Behaviours explores how individual consumers and groups reacted to changes in marketing, government control, popular leisure and the availability of consumer goods.From football to male fashion, tea to savings banks, leading scholars consider a wide range of products, ideas and services and how these were marketed to the British public through periods of imperial decline, economic instability, war, austerity and prosperity. The development of mass consumer society in Britain is examined in relation to the growing cultural hegemony and economic power of the United States, offering comparisons between British consumption patterns and those of other nations.Bridging the divide between historical and cultural studies approaches, Consuming Behaviours discusses what makes British consumer culture distinctive, while acknowledging how these consumer identities are inextricably a product of both Britain’s domestic history and its relationship with its Empire, with Europe and with the United States. Review "This is an outstanding collection of essays ... that should be required reading for both academics and students, for the sheer consistency of its scholarship and ambition across no fewer than fifteen chapters ... [It] is a fascinating and thought-provoking collection that will undoubtedly be read widely for years to come. - The English Historical Review A historical approach to culture and consumerism is a necessary ingredient to understanding contemporary life in a modern Western society like Britain, and anthropologists interested in capitalism, consumption, and modern lifestyles can benefit greatly from this country-specific investigation of politics, gender, pleasure, and the more or less intentional construction of an enduring modern subjectivity. - Anthropology Review Database The best essays in this collection explore... and collectively illustrate the imaginative work that can still be undertaken in the study of consumer culture in modern Britain. - Journal of Modern History" About the Author Erika Rappaport is an Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Sandra Trudgen Dawson is an Instructor of History and Women's Studies at Northern Illinois University,USA. Mark J. Crowley is an Associate Professor in the School of History, Wuhan University, China.