Empire of Things
Page 110
2. See now, Emily Watson, Seneca: A Life (London, 2015).
3. Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Great Divide (London, 2015).
4. Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, What’s mine is yours: the rise of collaborative consumption (New York, 2010); B. Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore, The experience economy (Boston, Mass., 1999); Jon Sundbo and Flemming Sørensen (eds), Handbook on the experience economy (Cheltenham, 2013); Juliet Schor, Plenitude: the new economics of true wealth (New York, 2010). See also now the overviews by Juliet Schor and Connor Fitzmaurice, ‘Collaborating and connecting’ and by Maurie J. Cohen, ‘Toward a post-consumerist future?’ in Lucia Reisch and John Thøgersen (eds), Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption (Cheltenham, 2015), pp. 410–25, 426–39.
5. See http://repaircafe.org/locations/; 200 of these are in Germany, where craftsmanship has remained strong.
6. Arvind Subramanian and Martin Kessler, ‘The Hyperglobalization of Trade and its Future’ , in Franklin Allen et al. (eds), Towards a Better Global Economy (Oxford, 2014), pp. 216–76; see also the commentary by Bernard Hoekman in the same volume, pp. 278–88.
7. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Review of Maritime Transport (New York, 2014), ch. 1.
8. OECD, Material Resources, Productivity and the Environment (Paris, 2015), p. 82 and pp. 69–82 for the above.
9. OECD, Material Resources, Productivity and the Environment, p. 116.
10. See Yuliya Kalmykova, Leonardo Rosado and João Patrício, ‘Resource consumption drivers and pathways to reduction: economy, policy and lifestyle impact on material flows at the national and urban scale’, Journal of Cleaner Production 30, 2015: 1–11.
11. See Charlotte Fourcroy, Faiz Gallouj, and Fabrice Decellas, ‘Energy consumption in service industries: Challenging the myth of non-materiality’, Ecological Economics 81, 2012: 155–64.
12. See: https://musicbusinessresearch.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/the-recorded-music-market-in-the-us-2000-2013/.
13. Ann Bermingham and John Brewer (eds), The Consumption of Culture 1600–1800: Image, Object, Text (London, 1995). See now also Michael Hutter, The Rise of the Joyful Economy: Artistic invention and economic growth from Brunelleschi to Murakami (Abingdon, 2015).
14. In addition to references in the Introduction and notes 1 and 4 above, see most recently: James Wallman, Stuffocation: how we’ve had enough of stuff and why you need experience more than ever (London, 2015).
15. See the International Telecommunication Union: http://www.itu.int/themes/climate/docs/report/02_ICTandClimateChange.html.
16. Global e-Sustainability Initiative, ‘SMART 2020: Enabling the low-carbon economy in the information age’ (2008); http://gesi.org/About_ICT_sustainability.
17. See Susanne Fischer et al. (Wuppertal Institute), Leasing Society: report for the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (Brussels, 2012).
18. See page 654 above.
19. Wall Street Journal, 3 February 2014. For UK figures, see the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders: http://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/01/uk-new-car-registrations-december-2014/. Similar reservations apply to the hope some attach to 3-D printing: why assume that the opportunity for the personalized, bespoke making of stuff will only be used to prolong the life of objects and that people will stop wanting novelty and variety?
20. Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness (London, 2009). For a short overview, see Cass Sunstein, ‘Behavioural economics, consumption and environmental protection’ in Reisch and Thøgersen (eds), Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption, pp. 313–27.
Index
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ABC (Always Be Cheerful) Groups 505
aborigines 450
Abrams, Mark 343
absenteeism 471, 529, 530, 531
abundance, society of 55–7, 153–4, 157–8, 230–31, 284, 303, 326, 357–8 see also affluence; America’s transformation from scarcity to 287; Nazi promise of abundance and affluence 290, 291; and tolerance of individual choice 303
acquisition 4, 31, 34 see also possessions; through tribute see tribute
Adams, John 111
Addams, Jane 216–17
Addison, Joseph 89
Adeboye, Enoch 614, 615
Adelaide 670, 671
Adenauer, Konrad 526
Adorno, Theodor 95, 266–7, 268
Adventures of Sei-chan 489
advertising 2, 9, 69, 171–3, 180, 198, 317–20, 378, 471, 522, 677, 680; advertisers’ view of shoppers 288; agencies 319, 494; American 318, 318, 319, 485; anti-advertising 315; ‘anti-pub’ campaign in Brussels 648; cocoa 167, 171–2; and the convergence of consumption and citizenship 287; and the creation of wants 302, 677; educational value of 489; expenditure per capita (1980) 320; fair-trade 567; flyer ban in Italian cities 648; and nationalism 172–3; pitching democratic consumers against dictatorial politicians 287–8; post-war expenditure 317–18; and psychological techniques 315–16, 317, 318; and the restless self 231; restrictions in Sweden 489; small shops as leaders in 205; socialist 327; and students 312, 494–5; targeting children/youth 314–15, 485, 487, 489–90, 494–5; television 319–20, 489–90; trade cards 192
affluence 338–54 see also abundance, society of; affluent society; wealth; acceptance of 307–8, 325–6; affluent budgets 338–9; affluent society see affluent society; ‘affluenza’ 405, 406; age of (1949–73) 12, 272, 317, 338, 344, 348, 411, 435, 510, 539–40, 638, 659; and Americanization thesis 348–54; Asian lack of problem with 385; breeding ‘private opulence and public squalor’ 8, 302; and cheap entertainment 455; and choice 12, 303, 403, 548–61 see also choice; civil rights activism 324–5; and class/status 303, 316, 339–48; during the Cold War 300–326; and complaining 558–9; and Conservatives 307–8; as a dangerous spiral 306; European views of affluence as an American invasion 305–6; and evangelical prosperity gospel 610–11, 615; and happiness 452, 455; and identity 344; ideological battleground of 274–337; and ‘increasing scarcity of time’ 460; and individuality 548; infatuation with 115; and the inter-war years 273–300; and leisure 443, 452, 455, 456, 460–63, 468–70, 483; and loneliness 500; and markets 12 see also markets; narrative of 12; Nazi promise of abundance and 290, 291; and needs 272–3, 320–21, 508–9; negative effects of 153; private affluence helped by public consumption 373; and public spending 304–5, 326, 373; and the slowing down of competitive status-seeking 303, 316; and social transformation 548; and the socialist consumer culture 326–37; in South Korea 384–5; and sustainability see sustainability; and time poverty 460; and trade unionists 306, 343; and waste shift from producer to consumer 649; in Western Europe after Second World War 273
affluent society 6, 9, 302, 403, 538, 678; and allocation of time 452; critics/critiques 314, 403; and diets 587–8, 604–5; and the elderly 498–517; Galbraith’s The Affluent Society 7–8, 273, 302–3, 304, 305, 359, 678; and happiness 452, 455; as ‘joyless’ 455; polarization of work and leisure 443, 468–73; public services and choice in 548–61; and religion 606–21; and social spending 304–5, 326 see also social spending; spread of 11; and ‘throwaway society’ 622–75; transition from industrial to knowledge-based 470
Africa 11, 122–36, 174, 347; adoption of European clothes 4, 129, 130, 132, 136; depopulation with labour needs for cultivating America 79; dispossession and repossession 122–36; East 23, 64, 80, 124, 125, 129, 132, 134, 135, 136, 596; end of domestic slavery in 122; exodus of Indians and Pakistanis from East Africa to Britain with decolonization 596; Gold Coast 124; interplay between spiritual and material rebirth 614; the ‘lazy African’ 133, 471; leisure 471–2; middlemen 129, 131, 133, 134; Migration Project 589, 592, 593–5, 594; missionaries in 125–6, 133–5, 614–15; Pentecostalist revival 613–14; pre-colonial 123, 124, 125, 135; an
d remittances 590, 592, 594; scramble for 121, 129–30, 133; scrapped cars sent to 653; and the slave trade see slavery/slaves; South see South Africa; and ‘spirit of poverty’ doctrine 614; sub-Saharan 124, 252, 656; trade 129–31, 133; wages 173; West 27, 122, 124, 125, 129, 130–31; westernization of Africans 126–7, 252
African-Americans 215, 238–9, 247, 324–5, 505
age see generations
agnostics 612
air-conditioning 15, 244, 323, 341, 348, 379, 611, 689
airbnb 655
Al-Khanssaa Brigade 617
Aladdin Company 239–40
Alberti, Leon Battista 34
alcohol 65, 141, 142, 149, 153, 161, 166; beer see beer; cocktails 462; in Japan 359; outlawed in Iran 616; poisonous methyl alcohol 387; problematic rise in drink 305; spirits 65, 140, 142, 166, 171 see also brandy; gin; wine see wine
Alcoholics Anonymous 555
Alexandria 202–3
Alexandria Water Co. 178
Algarve 513
alienation 230
Allasio, Marisa 301
Alpino, Prospero 84–5
Altamira, Mexico 591
Altenloh, Emilie 215
aluminium 225, 250, 251, 639, 652, 683–4; cans 625, 647; pollution and greenhouse gas emission from 683–4
American Association of Retired Persons 501, 513, 515
American Can Company 524
American Civil Liberties Union 555–6
American Civil War 122, 638
American Express 500
American Journal of Nursing 505
American Tract Society 608
Americanization 273, 282–3, 324, 348–54, 377–9, 527
Americas 25–6; American Civil War 122, 638; American Revolution 111; Central America 80, 334; depopulation 79; English settlers 27; and European land cultivation 79; Latin America see Latin America; New World see New World; and the slave trade see slavery/slaves; trade 23; USA see United States of America
Amores, Maria de 64
Amsterdam 38, 55–7, 72, 86, 90–91, 630
amusement parks 219, 220
animism 385–6
Anka, Paul 351
anonymity 94
anthropologists 6
anti-colonialism 16, 274; and clothes 296–8, 299, 347; India and Gandhi 296–8, 379–80
antiquity, value of 4, 50, 53, 227
Antwerp 32, 38, 88, 156, 192
apartheid 577
aphrodisiacs 85
Aragon, Louis 306
Archigram 636
Argentina 161, 170, 265
aristocrats/gentry 49, 52, 59, 60, 69, 84, 100, 137, 142; ‘atavistic’ aristocracy 119; excesses of nobility 100, 103; gentlewomen 87; Renaissance 30, 33, 35
Aristotle 98, 455; golden mean 390
Armstrong, Louis 352
arson 300, 321–2
art 30, 52, 463; conceptual 636; creative arts 465, 496 see also music; Dada 636; dematerialized 636; Japanese arts and self-cultivation 472; paintings see paintings/pictures; ‘readymade’ 636–7; and waste 636–7
Arthashastra 357
artisans 41, 42, 44, 47, 74, 103, 139, 215; Renaissance 29, 31, 32, 38
artists 38, 96, 263, 284, 315, 441, 547, 627; Brazilian 352; conceptual 636; modernist 199, 319; musical 263, 351, 352; threatened by standardization 225; window artists 194
arts and crafts movement 225
Asaf ud-Daula 138
Asahi 378
Ashanti kingdom (Ghana) 131–2
Asia see also specific countries: Americanization 377–9; Asian migrants to London 596–7; banking network in South Asia 367; citizenship 357; company services 531, 534; consumer movements 392–3, 394–8, 552; crisis of 1989 371, 372; dematerialization 669; football 617; luxury brands 439; middle class in 140, 142, 143, 355–6, 373–5, 380, 392, 519; migration within 356, 595; modernity 358, 368, 378, 379–82; old age in 517–19; rise of consumption and modern consumer societies 355–99; television 355, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 374, 375, 378, 379; the traditional but modern consumer 362, 373–87
Asianization 379
aspiration 42, 98, 175, 228, 325, 362 see also desire for things; aspiring bourgeoisie 227; aspiring middle classes 79, 142, 224, 341; Chinese, under Mao 368; fed by the cinema 282–3, 301–2; socialist 327, 333; spiral of aspirational spending 74; and working class solidarity 340, 343–4
Assam tea 79, 169
Association of Bank Users (ADICAE) 558
A. T. Stewart (department store) 192
AT&T 287
Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal 619
Atlanta, water consumption 177, 187, 188
Atlantic empire 92
Atlantic trade see transatlantic consumption and trade
auctions 69, 71, 145, 656
audience research 319
audiotapes 619
Augustine of Hippo 8
Augustus the Strong 88
Austen, Jane 196
austerity 12, 106, 273, 289, 338–9, 390, 539, 610, 612, 675 see also thrift; instant gratification in the midst of 607; and socialism 331, 337
Australia 429, 481, 543, 669, 670; aborigines 450; mortgages 423, 522; outsourcing environmental burden to 669; Productivity Commission 481
Austria 363, 409, 441, 478, 513, 542, 548, 644, 668
authenticity 132, 158–9, 223, 227, 235; the authentic self 96, 100, 235; consumption and inauthenticity 135, 138; in local food 580, 581, 583; post-material search for authentic experiences 384, 685–6; religious 601
authoritarianism 374, 386, 394, 397, 535 see also totalitarianism; antiauthoritarian politics and consumer culture 322; ‘social authoritarianism’ of the radio 266
automobiles see cars
avarice 8, 156, 285, 386, 405, 449
Aznavour, Charles 352
Aztecs 78–9, 84
Baader, Andreas 322
baboos 143
Bacon, Francis 84–5
Bainbridge drapers, Newcastle 192
Bakker, Jim 611
Bandello, Matteo 30
Bangladesh 367
bankruptcy 418, 431–3
banks 239, 426; bancarisation of the people 423; Bank of Japan 363; Banque de France 533; children’s 363, 417; Dutch National Bank 563; Federal Reserve bankers 414; German 416; Indian 367; inequality and location of bank branches 432; lawsuit by ADICAE against Spanish banks 558; and private credit 414, 415, 416; savings banks 243, 362, 417, 418, 419; sponsoring of company services 536; World Bank see World Bank
Barbedienne, Ferdinand, foundry 225–6
Barbon, Nicholas 98, 100
Barlaeus, Caspar 96
Baroda 380
barter 46, 117, 130, 277, 328, 335 see also haggling
Bastiat, Frédéric 117, 151
Bat’a, Tomáš 525
bathing 189–90
bathrooms 178, 179, 189, 221, 238, 242, 248, 307
baths 176, 184, 186, 189, 244, 247; swimming baths 190
Baudrillard, Jean 324
Bauer, Edgar 115
Bauer, Samuel 88
Bauer, Yevgeni 199
Bauman, Zygmunt 520
Bayle, Pierre 102
Bayly, Christopher 138
bazaars 192, 209
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) 266
beads 25, 77, 104, 124–5, 574
Beatles 352
Becker, Gary 74, 427
bedding 31, 55, 56, 60, 62, 63, 678
bedroom furniture 30, 31
Beecher, Catherine 247
Beecher, Henry Ward 610
beer 10, 27, 58, 80, 88, 166, 252, 318, 331, 358, 359, 371, 475, 508, 509, 535, 546, 559; 1830 Beer Act, England 476; bottles 636, 647, 661; German 358, 559
Beijing 44, 46, 47, 72, 72, 93, 190–91, 357, 395, 493, 494; Tianqiao market 190, 191, 685
Belgium 120, 148, 534, 547; elderly people 508; fair trade 570; homes 243, 245; household savings rate 420, 421; recycling 644; Sunday restrictions 478
Belize (British Honduras) 170–71, 581–2, 626
Belmondo, Jean-Paul 322
Benjamin, Walter 191, 197–8
Bentham, Jeremy 152
Bentley, Thomas 69
Benzoni, Girolamo 78
Berg, Alban 267
beriberi 543
Berlin 155, 156, 168, 179, 187, 189, 207, 295, 307, 328, 477, 479, 549–50, 627, 635–6; elderly people 507–8; Gloria-Palast 211; Horseshoe Estate 222, 223; Kommune 1 (first political commune) 322, 323; Mann family home 251; Tietz 193; Wall 301, 333, 646; water consumption 186, 187; Wertheim 199–200
Bern 156, 470
betel nut 47, 150, 168
Bethmann-Hollweg, Martha von 156
Better Homes and Gardens 377
Betts, Tristram 574
Beverwijk, Anna Nannige 55
Bianciardi, Luciano 350
Bibelot, Le 227
Biermann, Wolf 334–5
Biles, Judith 511
Billington-Greig, Teresa 157
Binèt, René 192
biodiversity decline 604
bird fights 137
biribissi 30
Birmingham 141, 243, 559
Black Death 58
black market 65, 330 see also smuggling
Blackpool 210, 220
Blackstone, William 103–4
Blair, Tony 5, 548
Blair government 549
‘Blondie’ comic strip 378
body: the ageing body 514–15 see also elderly people; bodily humours 84, 85; clothes as an extension of the body 296; hygiene see hygiene; man’s two general wants of body and mind (Barbon) 98; mind–body/matter duality 95, 230–31; smearing 126; union/balance between mind and 101, 246, 397
Boeing 529–30, 532
Bolsheviks 276–7
Bon Marché 191, 192, 193, 194, 199, 204
books 30, 31, 32, 44, 45, 47, 51, 53, 55, 56, 616, 658 see also libraries
boot sales 654
Bootle 506
Bormann, Heinz 328
Boston 86, 177, 179, 187; tea party 111
bottle banks 639
Boucicant, Aristide 204
Boulton, Matthew 53
Bourdieu, Pierre 344–6
bourgeoisie 86, 87, 94, 117, 118, 165, 181, 215, 227, 292–3, 311, 345, 374; aspiration 227; Bildungsbürgertum 416; the bourgeois home 250, 251, 345; childhood seen as invention of bourgeois modernity 486; culture of restraint 117, 118, 311; ‘embourgeoisement’ thesis of British working class 342–4; in Paris 225–6, 250, 374; and Soviet material culture 292–5