World of Consumption: The Material and the Cultural Revisited (Economics as Social Theory)

Rating:
Summary: important subject, okay treatment
Review: Relationships between consumer culture and the economy seem central to understanding contemporary social life. To date the economics discipline has not been up to the task, focused as it is on things like financial markets and international trade, rather things like shopping and everyday life. Ben Fine's book is a good economic foray into consumption. It offers great diatribe against standard economic approaches to consumers and consumption. But it wanders around alot, lacks depth, and doesn't offer much in the way of new insights or perspectives. In short, while the subject of this book is important, one wishes it had been tackled more thoughtfully.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This superb book kept me intrigued from beginning to end, and is basically a critical examination of economic imperialism and globalization; the world of commodities; systems of provision and culture; the consumer society; and public consumption.

Well worth reading.