Empire of Things
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citizenship, post-war cultivation of 496
citizenship, rights and duties of 356
Cittaslow 442, 470
civic humanism 33, 96, 99
civil rights activism 324–5
civil servants 416
civil society 87, 101, 109, 356–7, 390, 393, 648
class see also aristocrats/gentry; bourgeoisie; elite; middle classes; upper classes; working classes: and affluence 303, 316, 339–48; approach to money and goods 342; bias and prejudice 415, 416; Bourdieu’s nexus of culture and 344–6; caste 143–4, 298, 315, 381–2; and the cinema 211, 214; classless cabins 291; and coaches 40; and credit 423–4; and cultural poaching 347; department stores and class relations 197; diets, eating and 587–8, 604–5; and domestic technologies 259; and dress codes 40; and drinking habits 164, 340; fears 313; and food 165; hierarchies 5, 40, 305, 313; and leisure 455, 466, 468–9; loosening of class hierarchies amongst the young 313; and mass culture 315; and place in production system 381; and the polarization of time 450–51, 468–9; the poor as the new leisure class 449; the rich as the new working class 449; Second World War and the destabalizing of hierarchies 305; and shopping 350; snobbery 415; in the Soviet Union 294–5; and taste 79, 108–9, 226, 304, 344–6, 436–8, 548; and television 346; war 313
cleanliness 4, 177–8, 226, 245, 527 see also hygiene; cleaning and looking after the home see housework; and domestic technologies 252–3 see also vacuum cleaners; washing machines
Cleveland 217, 218
climate change 560, 666
Clinton, Bill 395
Clive, Robert (Clive of India) 137
clocks 26, 49, 56, 60, 61, 62, 62, 129, 222, 359; cuckoo 193; prayer 618
clothes 4, 10, 34, 41–2, 56, 378 see also fashion; adoption of European clothes by Africans 4, 129, 130, 132, 136; adoption of Western clothes by affluent Indians 143; age-specific 486–7, 494–5; American menswear 315; and anti-colonialism 296–8, 299, 347; of Bengali women 142–3; Britons prohibited from wearing Indian dress 143; children’s 486–7; Chinese 359, 360, 368; clothing revolution, 18th century 67, 68, 73–4; codes of dress 40; cotton see cotton; counter-cultural 323; Egyptian 299–300; and emancipation 132; and emotions 686; evening dress hire 682; as extension of the body 296; fair standard of clothing requirements, Philadelphia 150; falling cost in era of high imperialism 146; freedom of dress 111; fur-lined 37; Gandhi and Indian clothes 296–8; home-made 24, 332; hybrid 64, 143, 299; and identity 94, 296–8; Indian cottons 4, 10, 23, 24; and individuality 315; items of clothing in UK (2013) 1; Japanese 358, 359; jeans see jeans; Karo desire for Western clothes 142; legislation 39–42; leisure 201; mass-produced 59; and the meeting of the private and public spheres 296; menswear 200–201, 315; Muslim dress 130, 617, 618, 619, 620; national dress 297–8, 299–300; and national identity 296–8; paper dresses 636; Persian 146; post-baptismal 126; practical 345; Punjabi peasant 361; ready-made 94, 203, 487; school 497; second-hand 68, 71, 190, 312, 629, 652, 656–7, 658–9; and self-alienation 100; sensitivity of clothing as article of consumption 67; serfs’ 203; servants’ 21, 22, 67, 68, 73–4; shoes see shoes; shopping by British women 674; silks 23, 31, 36, 39, 41, 42, 47, 48, 51, 58, 140, 293, 294, 299; skirts 21; sleeves 21, 37, 43, 69; and social positioning/status 13, 39, 41, 94; sportswear 201, 320; stockings see stockings; students’ 495; Venetian 37; waste 622; woollen see wool; working-class 68; young people’s 312, 494–5, 498
Club of Rome 325; Limits to Growth 324, 639
Clunas, Craig 50
co-operative movement 155, 156, 275, 277, 285, 308; co-op shops 205–7; co-operative finance 206; and fair trade 578, 579; International Co-operative Alliance 207; International Trading Agency 573; Russian co-operatives 277; women on co-operative boards 579; Women’s Co-operative Guild 157
coaches, horse-drawn 40
coal 59, 71, 94, 122, 147, 153, 182, 629, 666, 683; ash 624, 628
Coca-Cola 307, 582, 618; bottles 637
cocktails 462
cocoa/cacao 24, 78–9, 80, 81, 84, 131, 163, 168, 678 see also chocolate; advertising 167, 171–2; butter extraction 167; evolution into mass-produced national commodity 167; fair-trade 568; and health 167; Javanese 164
coffee 4, 10, 27, 78, 79, 80, 81, 84–5, 86–8, 90–92, 163, 167, 168, 566–7; advertising 172–3; America and 92, 165, 173, 566; and the armed forces 166–7; breaks 166; British consumption 91, 566; chains 562–3, 579; cups 87, 88, 125; Dutch consumption 79, 87, 164, 164; English consumption in 1724 81; fair-trade 562–3, 566, 575, 576–7, 579; and the French 79, 165, 166; Germany and 166, 172; global expansion of ‘Italian’ coffee 173; houses 79, 86; and industrialization 166; Japanese consumption 165; Kenyan 573; picking 579; premier league of drinkers, eve of First World War 164, 164; and the slave trade 91; substitute 81, 166; sugar in 90; taxes 86, 91–2
Cohen, Lizabeth 5
Cold War 272, 273, 546, 573; and the battleground of leisure 329; and geopolitics 300–301; and the ideological battle over affluence 300–337; and social spending 542
collars, removable 21
collecting 50, 52, 96, 137, 138, 145, 227, 231–2, 270
Collection for Improvement of Agriculture and Trade 98
collective bargaining 156, 343
collectivism/collectivization 245, 277, 331–2, 343, 369, 376
Collegiate Special Advertising Agency 494
Cologne 208, 219, 319
Colombia 163, 170, 651
colonialism 4, 61, 90, 132–3 see also imperialism; anti-colonialism see anti-colonialism; British Raj 137–46, 296–8; colonial customs zone 162; colonial elite 80; colonial food chain 128; colonial nationalists 274, 296–8; colonial tea plantations 79; consumption control for subjects 121; decolonization 596; and dislike of natives 173; domestication of colonial space 171; empire writing out the colonial producer 173; and imperial tug of war 120; and inequality 161; setting up home in the colony 144–6; and slavery see slavery/slaves; Spanish 64; and Third World visibility 576; and tropical production 78–9, 80, 90, 91, 162–3; and waste disposal 633; Western goods and colonial identity 131
Columbia Phonograph Company 263
comfort 4, 21, 110, 270–71, 281, 677; and credit 412; culture of 68, 108, 246–7; and decency 228, 246; domestic see domestic comforts; and emotions 270; functionalist 249–50; goods 455; and the heart 226; Hoover on 237–8; house architecture and the culture of 246–7; ‘innocent’ and ‘modest’ comforts 363; mass comfort 227; material comfort 237, 290, 309, 334, 369, 484, 520, 596, 615; and the nurturing of character 238; and politeness 30; and the public good 32–3; and safety 226; and selfalienation 100; and trade-offs 61; Western comforts as obstacles to salvation 125–6
comités d’entreprise (CEs) 532–3, 534
commerce see also company services, and corporate-led consumption; retail trade; trade: American corporations styled as mini-democracies 287; children’s commercial power 312, 485, 491–2; clash with custom 38; commercial culture used by religion 607–13; commercial leisure see leisure; commercial waste 642; commercialization of childhood 484–94; and the convergence of consumption and citizenship 287; countryside commercialization 49; Dutch 26; e-commerce 481–2, 654, 658; effect of rise of commerce on consumption 24; expansion, and ‘tasteful objectivity’ 96; global commerce and the ethic of care 573, 584; identity crisis with rise of industry and 269; Ming China’s commercialization 44–8, 49; production see production; rise of 24; self-expression as bridge between arts and 315; shift towards Atlantic world, late 17th century 26–7; shopping see shopping; silver as lubricant of 25–6; spread of customer service into 558; wealth of commercial society 103; widening channels of 24
commodification 28, 266
Commonwealth Steel 527
communes 182, 321, 322, 323, 537
communication 94, 301, 471, 685 see also mobile phones; radio; social networking; television; EU government expenditure on 538; ICT see information and communication technology; speed 442
communism 7, 16, 245, 246, 274, 289, 292–6, 3
27–37, 396–7 see also Bolsheviks; Maoism; Marxism; Soviet Union; Stalinism; co-operation with the consumer in China 397–8; communist elite 294–5; Communist Party of China 372, 374, 376, 386–7, 394, 398; French 307; and waste 331, 644–6
community-supported agriculture (CSA) 580, 588
commuting/commuters 14, 200, 340, 454, 457, 685, 686
Compagnie Parisienne de l’Air Comprimé 183
company leisure activities 525–36; mobility and the firm’s loss of control over 528–9; and recreational facilities/finance 525, 526–31, 535–6; sport 456, 523, 525, 526, 527, 531, 533, 534; and ‘wellness’ strategies 513, 530–31
company services, and corporate-led consumption 523–36; collective consumption in company towns 524–8; food 524–5, 531–2; health and welfare 513, 523, 525, 529, 530–31; housing 457, 523, 526, 528, 534; Japanese perks 534; and leisure see company leisure activities; mutation with Second World War 529; pension funds/plans 500, 523, 528; and privatization in Eastern Europe 535; sponsors of company teams 536; stores 524–5, 528
company towns 524–8, 534
complaining 558–9
computers 2, 465, 467, 674, 686; used 652, 653, 658, 660, 662, 663, 664
conceptual artists 636
condominiums 674
Condulmer, Elisabetta 32
Coney Island 219, 220
conformism 226, 314, 315
Confucianism 48, 51, 386–7; neo-Confucianism 386–7
Congo (Brazzaville) 347, 471–2
connoisseurship 52
conservatives 112, 159, 196, 240, 245, 301; 1950s as a conservative restoration 309–10; and affluence 307–8; British Tories 308, 549, 554–5, 556, 640; and choice 308; Christian 306; embracing consumer sovereignty 314; family-oriented consumerism 324; working-class conservatism 344
conspicuous consumption 13, 15, 227–9, 438–9, 677; in Asia 139, 383, 384–5; checked by authoritarianism 374; conspicuous underconsumption 303; family-oriented 383; as moral threat 380; and the Rajput 362; and TV evangelists 610–11; and waste 15, 144
consumer activism 157, 159–60, 571, 681 see also consumer movements; of the ‘68ers’ 321–3; in the 1930s 274; in Asia 393, 394, 395–8; boycotts see boycotts; fair-trade 567, 570–71; before First World War 274–5; in healthcare 555–7; and leagues see consumers’/buyers’ leagues; and litigation 395–6; and the relationship between state and citizen 557–9; and scarcity 393; and transition from charity to trade justice 573–7; water consumer movement 183, 184–5
consumer boom, post-war see consumption: boom of 1950s and ’60s
consumer centres 394
consumer citizenship see citizenship, consumer
consumer clubs, in Indian schools 390
consumer co-operatives see co-operative movement
consumer culture 21–77 see also material culture; and the ‘68ers’ 321–4, 327; and the abolitionists 128; of affluence see affluence; Africa and empire 124–36; ambivalence towards 104, 121–2, 216, 307; and the American dream 237–8, 283, 340; Americanized see Americanization; and anti-authoritarian politics 322 see also anticolonialism; Asian 357–99; assumptions about traditional versus modern consumers 360; of austerity see austerity; and boycotts see boycotts; Britain’s post-war lead in 475; and Cartesian duality 231; celebrity culture 435; the child consumer 216–17, 217, 484–94 see also children; and choice see choice; Christian see Christian religion and Church; and the city see cities and urban life; civic consumerism/progressive individualism 237–8; of comfort see comfort; consumer as king see consumer sovereignty; consumers considering themselves as a mass 198; contemplative 52; of credit see credit; cult of antiquity 4, 50, 53, 227; and cultural capital 50, 52, 466, 470; democratic advance from elite to bourgeois to mass consumption 136; ‘depression phobia’ 342; and desire see desire for things; discovery of the consumer 129, 146–60; and disenchantment see disenchantment; of domestic comfort see domestic comforts; domestic consumer revolution 222–71; of domestic hygiene and cleanliness 252–3 see also cleanliness; hygiene; Dutch 53–8, 56; in early 1970s 324; early modern north-west Europe 53–63, 65–6, 70–77; energized by the home 375; and the Englightement 95–110, 231; English 58–63, 61, 62, 65–6, 71–2, 76–7; ethical consumerism 128, 155–7, 565–80 see also fair trade; European fears of invasion of American 305–6; and exotic drug foods 78–93 see also cocoa/cacao; coffee; tea; tobacco; First World War and consumer identity 275–6; and generations see generations; hybrids 11, 138, 143, 246, 312, 349, 358, 482; and identity in India 380–81; of improvement 105–10; India and the Raj 137–46, 296–8; inequalities see inequalities; of instant gratification see instant gratification; and Islam 616–21; Japanese 358, 383–4, 386; Latin American 170; leisure see leisure; as lightning rod for anxieties 305; luxuryorientated 28–38; male craft-consumer and home-centred culture 261, 262; and the middle class 340; Ming China 43–53, 57 see also Ming dynasty; and modernity see modernity; Mughal empire 137, 138; nationalism and consumerist modernity 298; nationalism and mass consumer culture 167; organized consumers’ contribution to nationalism 297–300; patriotic consumers 238; pursuit of novelty 4, 49, 51, 53, 330, 405, 496, 623, 661 see also novelty; and radical culture 322–3; and the relationship between generations 520–21; and religious experience 612–21; Renaissance Italy 28–38; revolution and reaction 111–18; and romantic revolution in China 369–70; selfish see selfishness; shaped by the way people use things 681; socialist 326–37; society of abundance see abundance, society of; Soviet warnings about 324; of style over substance 47; the teenage consumer 494–8 see also youth and teenagers; of thrift see thrift; the traditional but modern consumer 362, 373–87; urban see cities and urban life; Victorian 161; and waste see waste; the West’s embrace of the consumer 173; ‘wholesome consumer lifestyle’ 363; women as civilizing consumers 110; women’s centrality in familial consumerism 308; ‘work–spend cycle’ 444
consumer detriment 549
consumer durables 246, 253, 260, 336, 412, 419; changing family life in Asia 383; consumer ambivalence in attitudes to durability 657–8; and the elderly 510; electric labour-saving appliances see domestic appliances and technologies; furniture see furniture; for home entertainment see gramophones; radio: sets/receivers; television: sets; for ICT see computers; mobile phones; and social spending 542; Soviet 327; and status 260; and tax credits 309; vehicles see cars; mopeds; and women’s enslavement 254
consumer education 393–4
consumer groups 390–91, 392, 393, 551; forums 389
Consumer Guidance Society of India 390
consumer guides 66
consumer magazines 70–71, 200, 253, 305, 310, 312, 377 see also women’s magazines
consumer movements 16, 552, 553, 555, 559, 680 see also consumer activism; in Asia 392–3, 394–8, 552; water consumer movement 183, 184–5
consumer politics see also citizenship, consumer: activist see consumer activism; consumer movements; and the adaptability of consumption 680–81; anti-authoritarian politics and consumer culture 322; Asian 393–8; consumer leagues see consumers’/buyers’ leagues; consumer protection and rights see consumer protection; consumer rights; and the Depression 278–88; exotic fashion and antiestablishment politics 323; during First World War 275–6, 363; geopolitics see geopolitics; German 275–6; and the ideological battle over affluence 274–326; and markets 9, 680; and movements see consumer movements; and public services 391; Russian/Soviet 276–7, 294–5; social bargains between states and consumers 278; and socialism 276–7; water consumer movement 183, 184–5; and water rates 183–4, 188
consumer power 356, 388, 567, 572, 584
consumer protection 152, 155, 286, 387, 388, 389, 390–91, 393–7, 550–53, 558–9, 567, 586 see also consumer rights; and Ombudsmen 557–8, 559; Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection 558; and protection of their services 389; Single European Act 559; UN Guidelines (1985) 552
consumer rights 155, 184–5, 387, 388, 389–90, 394–5, 550–51, 552, 553, 680 see also consumer protection; and com
plaining 558–9; in healthcare 555–7; World Consumer Rights Day 550
consumer society see also consumer culture: 1968 attitudes to 321; of affluence see affluence; America as model of 10, 273, 307; Asian transitions to modern consumer societies 355–99; Baudrillard’s critique of 324; ‘birth’ of 10, 22, 73; conservative restoration in 1950s 309–10; empowerment of the consumer 6, 203, 260, 287, 288, 295, 557, 559, 560, 567; German 307; label 679–80; releasing the individual 325; and security 307; theories of zero-sum relationship between leisure and work 449; as way of life 302, 305–6, 680–81
consumer sovereignty 152, 285, 288, 314
Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) 390–91
consumer welfare see welfare
‘consumerism’: and anti-advertising 315; civic consumerism/progressive individualism 237–8; ‘consumer revolution’ 22; consumer society see consumer society; ‘consumerization’ of public services 548; consumers as 1930s’ point of reference 285; consuming as spiritual 386–7; critiques of 5, 7, 109, 227, 304, 677; culture of see consumer culture; debt and reckless/excessive ‘consumerism’ 406–7, 428, 431; domestic technologies and the escalator of 258; ethical 128, 155–7, 565–80 see also fair trade; fair-trade products as ‘mere consumerism’ 565; family-oriented consumerism adopted by conservatives 324; Gandhi’s anti-consumerism 296–8; hollowing effect of 109; inbuilt obsolescence as engine of 258; and instant gratification see instant gratification; John Paul II’s attack on 606; as a life stage 281; and the Nazis 290–92; and obsession with economic growth 677; as one package with democracy and capitalism 273; Red 294; as totalitarianism 5, 7; transatlantic debate over destructive effects of 302; working class culture, Labour party and private consumerism 343–4