Consumption studies has grown tremendously in the past decade. Researchers in sociology, geography, anthropology, history, marketing, management, organization and even art history have embraced consumption as a key institution of our era, and are eager for ideas and insights. Conversations on Consumption makes an important contribution to the growing field of consumption studies by offering readers a lively introduction to debates and dialogues that have shaped the field, in the form of engaging interviews and personal reflections from leading theorists and researchers.
The interviews in this collection were first published in the interdisciplinary journal Consumption Markets and Culture and together form an accessible summary of the leading ideas and key developments in consumption studies and social theory over the past two decades. With innovative contributions from marketing academics, historians, consumer researchers, sociologists, anthropologists and artists, the pieces highlight the interdisciplinary nature of consumption, as well as the wide-ranging interest in consumption studies. They are united in their approach to understand consumption, far removed from economic or managerial analysis, by focusing more on the role it plays in culture.
Conversations on Consumption will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, anthropology, consumer research, management studies, and history.
Foreword
1. Introduction Jonathan E. Schroeder, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
2. A consuming passion: An interview with George Ritzer Steven P. Dandaneau, University of Tennessee, USA and Robin M. Dodsworth, North Carolina State University, USA
3. Materiality and the comfort of things: drinks, dining and discussion with Daniel Miller Janet L. Borgerson, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA
4. A conversation with Pierre Guillet de Monthoux Alladi Venkatesh, University of California, Irvine, USA
5. Outsider’s insights: (Mis) understanding A. Fuat Fırat on consumption, markets and culture Alan Bradshaw, Royal Holloway University of London, UK, and Nikhilesh Dholakia, University of Rhode Island, USA
6. Why do you shop? A conversation with Judith Wilske Alladi Venkatesh, University of California, Irvine, USA
7. The mode of information and the cultures of the internet-a conversation with Mark Poster Alladi Venkatesh, University of California, Irvine, USA
8. Roots of Marketing and Consumer Research at the University of Chicago Sidney J. Levy, University of Arizona, USA
9. An Interview with Sidney J. Levy A. Fuat Fırat, Arizona State University West, USA
10. Animal Crackers: Making Progress on The Penguin’s Progress Stephen Brown, University of Ulster, UK
11. Romanticism, introspection, and the roots of experiential consumption: Morris the Epicurean Morris B. Holbrook, Columbia University New York, USA
12. Romanticism, Introspection and Consumption: A Response to Professor Holbrook Colin Campbell, University of York, UK
Biography
Jonathan Schroeder is the William A. Kern Professor in Communications at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, USA. He has published widely on branding, communication, consumer research, and identity. He is the author of Visual Consumption (2002) and co-editor of Brand Culture (2006) and the forthcoming Routledge Companion to Visual Organization (2013). He is also editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journal Consumption Markets and Culture, and serves on the editorial boards of numerous other journals.
