Author Description

The World of Consumption presents a critical analysis of the major social theories of consumption. Criticizing the inappropriate response of social theory to consumerism, Ben Fine and Ellen Leopold develop a new, more inclusive theoretical approach which emphasizes different forms of determination for different products. They provide an innovative perspective on the analysis of consumption which opens up possibilities for multi-disciplinary approaches to the field. Fine and Leopold argue that individual commodities create their own distinct ``systems of provision''--processes by which production, distribution, marketing and consumption are vertically integrated. They further support this argument with extensive case studies of the food and fashion industries.