Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society)

By Mike Featherstone

Book Overview

Implicit within claims that society itself is in some sense postmodern is an argument about the priority of consumption as a determinant of everyday life. In this view, mass media advertising and market dynamics lead to a constant search for new fashions, new styles, new sensations and experiences. Material goods are consumed as communicators; they are valued as signifiers of taste and of lifestyle. This volume examines the viability of this portrait of contemporary society. Mike Featherstone explores the roots of consumer culture, how it is defined and differentiated and the extent to which it represents the arrival of a postmodern world. He examines the theories of consumption and postmodernism among contemporary social theorists such

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803984154
• ISBN13: 9780803984158
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.5" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Revised edition is helpful

For the last edition, Prof. Featherstone added a new preface and a new last chapter. These new additions are quite strong and make the book updated for current debates. One will not find fancy theoretical concepts to focus on but the author emphatically points out a sociological understanding of postmodernism. In that sense, it works. The reader is urged to think about the sociological validity of postmodern theories. Since most of the chapters were written at least 15 years ago, the literature seems to be old but the discussion is still up to date and as i said in the beginning the author informs us about the recent literature on the field in his additions for the last edition...

Just because you're not an academic doesn't mean your dumb!

Well written. Written by an academic but not necessarily only for academics. Worth the effort.