Vol. 11, No. 1, December 2009

Books of Note

Boström, Magnus and Mikael Klintman. 2008. Eco-Standards, Product Labeling and Green Consumerism. Palgrave MacMillan: New York.
A study of consumer trust, mistrust and politics of green labeling of products.

Chambers, Jason. 2008. Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
A comprehensive history reflects both discrimination against African Americans and promising possibilities for the future.

Chen, Katherine K. 2009. Enabling Creative Chaos: The Organization Behind  the Burning Man Event. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
This ethnography examines the development of the organization behind Burning Man, an annual countercultural arts event that promotes  participation and a gift economy for seven days in the Nevada Black Rock  Desert.

Foster, Robert, J. 2008. Coca-Globalization. Following Soft Drinks from New York to New Guinea, Palgrave MacMillan: New York.
Detailed readings of the place of commodities in social life in a variety of global contexts that is neither celebratory or apocalyptic in its assessment.

Glickman, Lawrence B.2009. Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Beginning with the Boston Tea Party, this book examines boycotts, campaigns for safe an ethical consumption and efforts to make products more broadly available to Americans.

Hall Steve, Simon Winlow, and Craig Ancrum. 2008. Criminal Identities and Consumer Culture. Portland, OR:  Willan Publishing.
An historical and theoretically rich first-of-its-kind study that examines how consumer motivations and criminality are interlinked. 

Sherman, Rachel. 2007. Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels. Berkeley: University of California Press.
A behind-the-scenes  study of two urban hotels that examines the relationship between class and service work in the production of luxury.


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