Consumer Society

The founder and president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, and bestselling author Gene Stone explore the wonders of animal life with “admiration and empathy” (The New York Times Book Review) and offer tools for living more kindly toward them. In the last few decades, a wealth of new information has...

Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s to the present, the volatile theses of this work have decisively transformed debates on the shape of modernity...

The Invisible Class War explores a battle no one talks about: not rich versus poor, but disciplined versus distracted, focused versus fragmented, builders versus consumers. In a world designed to capture attention and maximize comfort, success no longer depends on opportunity alone—it depends on mastery of self. This book reveals how daily habits, focus, and intentional action quietly determine life trajectories, and why reclaiming control over your time and attention is the most decisive advantage in the modern era.

"Narrating with a reporter's eye for detail, Rina Raphael delivers an in-depth exploration of the contemporary wellness industry with its laser-like marketing focus on women."- AudioFile Magazine This program is read by the author. Journalist Rina Raphael looks at the explosion of the wellness...

The Mobile Wave argues that the changes brought by mobile computing are so big and widespread that it’s impossible for us to see it all, even though we are all immersed in it. Saylor explains that the current generation of mobile smart phones and tablet computers has set the stage to become the universal computing platform for the world. In the hands of billions of people and accessible anywhere and anytime, mobile computers are poised to become an appendage of the human being and an essential tool for modern life.

What would a truly just and sustainable society look like? In The Universal Utopia, the author presents a sweeping vision of a reimagined world—one built not on unchecked consumption or fragmented interests, but on conscience, virtue, and long-term collective stability. Blending political philosophy, ethical reflection, and systemic critique, this work examines the foundations of modern society and asks whether our economic, political, and cultural structures are capable of delivering genuine human flourishing. From governance and education to economics, law, and civic responsibility, it ...

Tracing the history of happiness from its prehistoric origins to its current super-commercialized form in an age of mass consumerism and epidemic depression, "In Search of Happiness" constructs a new definition of this overused and poorly understood term. The result is a deep, startling, and ultimately inspiring and highly readable blueprint for seeking and finding genuine happiness, both as individuals and as a society. ABOUT THE AUTHOR John F. Schumaker is a retired clinical psychologist, academic, author, and social critic living in Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand. In addition to "In ...

The electric, unsettling, and often surreal stories in Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go explore the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian American women today. A woman escapes into dating simulations to forget her best friend’s abandonment; a teenager begins to see menacing omens on others’ bodies after her double eyelid surgery; reunited schoolmates are drawn into the Japanese mountains to participate in an uncanny social experiment; a supernatural karaoke machine becomes a K-pop star’s channel for redemption. In every story, characters refuse dutiful, docile stereotypes.

Jennifer was born in 1997, when the consumer society had reached a golden age. She was born in a city that was being built on top of a valley that was a beautiful example of the gifts that Mother Nature presented to us. Jennifer's father had become addicted to heroin, while Jennifer's mother was struggling to make enough money to survive since she worked a retail job that only paid minimum wage.

This newly launched report argues that development policies based on new insights into how people actually think and make decisions will help governments and civil society more readily tackle such challenges as increasing productivity, breaking the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next, and acting on climate change.

In four decades, bookended by the Pope’s visits to Ireland in September 1979 and August 2018, Ireland has become one of the wealthiest and most progressive nations in the world. Characteristically brilliant and timely, Renaissance Nation is a thrilling account of Ireland’s vertiginous rise and a timely exploration of its conflicted present, where stark decisions await the next generation of would-be revolutionaries.

The intensification of marketing in recent years has led the public to become much more aware of its role as consumers. Yet, the increased visibility of marketing materials and associated messages in everyday life is in contrast with the often little-understood inner workings of the marketing profession itself, despite the widespread recognition of marketers as key agents in shaping the face of global capitalism. Inside Marketing offers a theoretically informed critical perspective on contemporary marketing practice and its growing cultural, economic, and political influence.

La normalización de la precariedad, la pobreza y el “low cost” en la vida cotidiana es un fenómeno que se ha extendido a través de distintos medios y en muchos aspectos de nuestra cultura actual.