Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400-1800: The Rise of Consumerism

Consumerism is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the modern world. The global economy, it has been said, is driven as much by taste as technology. Yet consumerism has seldom been studied as a global overlay or incipient world institution. Adshead argues that consumerism began in an interaction between Europe and China during the Great Discoveries. A comparison of its subsequent development in both west and east highlights both the unity and the diversity of consumerism. What are presented here are less the details of consumption than the patterns of it, and the reasons, conscious and unconscious, for them.

1118914738
Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400-1800: The Rise of Consumerism

Consumerism is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the modern world. The global economy, it has been said, is driven as much by taste as technology. Yet consumerism has seldom been studied as a global overlay or incipient world institution. Adshead argues that consumerism began in an interaction between Europe and China during the Great Discoveries. A comparison of its subsequent development in both west and east highlights both the unity and the diversity of consumerism. What are presented here are less the details of consumption than the patterns of it, and the reasons, conscious and unconscious, for them.

144.18 Out Of Stock
Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400-1800: The Rise of Consumerism

Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400-1800: The Rise of Consumerism

Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400-1800: The Rise of Consumerism

Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400-1800: The Rise of Consumerism

Hardcover(1997)

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Overview

Consumerism is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the modern world. The global economy, it has been said, is driven as much by taste as technology. Yet consumerism has seldom been studied as a global overlay or incipient world institution. Adshead argues that consumerism began in an interaction between Europe and China during the Great Discoveries. A comparison of its subsequent development in both west and east highlights both the unity and the diversity of consumerism. What are presented here are less the details of consumption than the patterns of it, and the reasons, conscious and unconscious, for them.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780312172855
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date: 09/11/1997
Edition description: 1997
Pages: 279
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

Preface ix
1 Material Culture
1(30)
The Structure of Material Culture
2(6)
The Three Conjunctures of Material Culture
8(9)
Globalization 1400-1800
17(6)
Consumerism
23(8)
2 Consumerism and Food
31(36)
Preconditions, Institutions, Logic
32(10)
Essentials: Sorghum inside China, Rice outside China
42(7)
Accessories: Fish and Soya Beans
49(8)
Extras: Tea and Coffee
57(10)
3 Consumerism and Dress
67(35)
The Logic of Fashion
67(13)
Essentials: Silk in Europe, Cotton in China and Everywhere
80(10)
Accessories: Fur in China, Linen in Europe
90(6)
Extras: Top to Toe - Queues, Wigs and Bound Feet
96(6)
4 Consumerism and Shelter
102(36)
Principles: Systemic Options, Reasons and Consequences
103(15)
Essentials: Material, Design, Layout
118(10)
Accessories: Ceramics and Carpets
128(5)
Extras: Gardens - Disparate Forms, Common Content
133(5)
5 Consumerism and Utilities
138(34)
Energy Attitudes
138(9)
Heat: Coal - Rise, Rule and Retreat
147(7)
Water: Above and Below, Wholesale and Retail
154(8)
Light: Natural and Artificial
162(10)
6 Consumerism and Information
172(35)
Information and Consumerism
173(10)
Essentials: Speech and the Spoken Word
183(7)
Accessories: Script and the Written Word
190(9)
Extras: Print and the Printed Word
199(8)
7 Consumerism and Symbolism
207(38)
Commodities and Symbolism
207(11)
Essentials: Clocks and Gunpowder in the Symbolism of Taxis
218(11)
Accessories: New Drugs in the Symbolism of Intertaxis
229(9)
Extras: Flowers in the Symbolism of Ataxis and Antitaxis
238(7)
Notes 245(14)
Bibliography 259(11)
Index 270
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