20th Century British History - General & Miscellaneous, Consumption - Economics, Great Britain - Economic History, Economic Conditions in Europe - Great Britain

Consumerism in twentieth-century Britain

Name: Consumerism in twentieth-century Britain
Author: Matthew Hilton
ISBN: 9780521538534

by Hilton, Matthew

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Overview

This book is the first comprehensive history of consumerism as an organised social and political movement. Matthew Hilton offers a ground-breaking account of consumer movements, ideologies and organisations in twentieth-century Britain. He argues that in organisations such as the Co-operative movement and the Consumers' Association individual concern with what and how we spend our wages led to forms of political engagement too often overlooked in existing accounts of twentieth-century history. He explores how the consumer and consumerism came to be regarded by many as a third force in society with the potential to free politics from the perceived stranglehold of the self-interested actions of employers and trade unions. Finally he recovers the visions of countless consumer activists who saw in consumption a genuine force for liberation for women, the working class and new social movements as well as a set of ideas often deliberately excluded from more established political organisations.

About the Author, Matthew Hilton

Matthew Hilton is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Birmingham and the author of Smoking in British Popular Culture, 1800–2000 (2000).