The Unmanageable Consumer

Consumption and concepts of the consumer sit at the centre of numerous current debates - academic, political and environmental. This highly readable and stimulating book - a tour-de-force in the breadth of its coverage and analysis - shows how different traditions of thought have constructed different representations of the consumer. Each of these has its own coherence but rarely addresses alternative positions. A key concern of the authors is to identify, disentangle and juxtapose approaches to contemporary consumption which are seldom found in a single text.

Yiannis Gabriel and Tim Lang present a number of distinctive portraits of the consumer - as Chooser; as Communicator; as Identity-seeker; as Explorer; as Hedonist; as Victim; as Rebel. They detail the paradigms and perspectives underpinning these. They also contend that none of the various images satisfactorily come to terms with the fragmentation, volatility and confusion of contemporary western consumption. The concept of the `unmanageable consumer' is introduced to capture the practical and theoretical recalcitrance of consumerism today. The book concludes by arguing against any triumphalism about the globalization of western-style consumption.