The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism was first published by Basil Blackwell of Oxford in 1987. A paperback edition appeared two years later, while in the following five years it was reprinted four times. However although the intervening years have seen the appearance of Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian and Chinese editions, no copies have been available in English since 1998. This Alcuin Academic edition has therefore been published in order to fill this gap, and more specifically to meet the needs of those academics and students who have contacted me over the past six or seven years in search of an English-language version of the book. Naturally I have considered writing a revised edition (which indeed some critics, as well as a few friends, have suggested is long overdue). -- Amazon.com.

Originally published in 1987, Colin Campbell’s classic treatise on the sociology of consumption has become one of the most widely cited texts in sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and the history of ideas. In the thirty years since its publication, The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism has lost none of its impact. If anything, the growing commodification of society, the increased attention to consumer studies and marketing, and the ever-proliferating range of purchasable goods and services have made Campbell’s rereading of Weber more urgent still. As Campbell uncovers how and why a consumer-oriented society emerged from a Europe that once embodied Weber’s Protestant ethic, he delivers a rich theorization of the modern logics and values structuring consumer behavior. This new edition, featuring an extended Introduction from the author and an Afterword from researcher Karin M. Ekström, makes clear how this foundational work aligns with contemporary theory in cultural sociology, while also serving as major influence on consumer studies.

This collection of high quality, largely previously published essays, analyses a range of controversies in the field of the sociology of culture and consumption. Campbell made a major contribution to the development of this field and he has a clear and coherent theoretical position which he employs to comment on interesting disputes among scholars seeking to understand consumer culture. Containing a brand new expansive essay reflecting on consumption in the age of a pandemic and drawing out some of the conceptual and practical implications of the relationship between wants and needs, science and norms, this synthesis will be an invaluable resource for students and researchers of consumption, consumer and cultural sociology.

In this fascinating study, Boden considers the changing social and cultural significance of the wedding in Britain. The book focuses upon a number of issues including the commercialization of the event, the dynamics of heterosexual partnerships, and the influence of romance. The new commercial wedding is further explored in relation to broader socio-structural transformations and the modernization of marriage law. This book draws upon the experiences of marrying couples as well as media evidence.

This shrewd and probing book seeks to theorize shopping as an autonomous realm. It avoids the reductionist characteristics of economics and marketing. At the same time it avoids the moralizing tone of many contemporary discussions of shopping and consumption. It also contains an appendix which gives a brief history and selected literature of shopping.