Excess

Kim Humphrey, Associate Professor of History and Social Theory, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

• Preface viiAcknowledgements xivIntroduction: Trouble in Consumer Paradise 11 The New Politics of Consumption 152 Anti-Consumerism in Action 493 Encountering Anti-Consumerism 814 Interpreting Material Life 1105 Consuming Differently 153Postscript: After the Boom, Beyond the West 178Notes 184Bibliography 230Index 254

"Highly recommended. Graduate students/faculty."Choice "A fascinating exploration of what anti-consumerism (as cultural interpretation, lifestyle change, and collective action) means for the future of political debate, especially in the context of the recent economic crisis."Long Range Planning"Written in accessible if academic prose, Humphery's book explores this question in more complex and nuanced ways than is often the case in existing theoretical and populist reactions, which naively reject consumerism outright."Green World"[A] sophisticated analysis of consumerism."The Australian"There could hardly be a more timely issue - nor a more compelling study of the historical and political implications of the excess that may well be crushing the world as we knew it."Charles Lemert, Wesleyan University"Excess offers an insightful view of the many dimensions of consumption reformers must address—from the waste economy to environmental degradation, and from unhappiness at too much choice to the stress of too little money. Humphery dares us to hope that we can create a better vision of the good life without giving up our pleasures."Sharon Zukin, Brooklyn College, and author of Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture