Capitalism`s Eye i
s an extremely ambitious cultural history of how people experienced commodities in the era of industrial expansion.
Writing against the dominant argument that the society of the spectacle emerged fully formed in the mid-19th century, Kevin Hetherington explains that the emergence of a culture of mass consumption dominated by visual experience was a much slower process, not truly ascendant until after World War I. Prior to that time, people experienced commodities-and things more generally - in ways that encompassed all the bodily senses, much as they had in previous eras. Individuals in this nascent consumer culture still experienced commodities and objects in stores, museums, homes, and gardens via taste, smell, and touch - not sight alone. Situating the story exhibitions, the interior of the bourgeois home, the Victorian garden, the department store, and the luxury shop - Capitalism`s Eye
opens a new vista into understanding the rise of consumer culture. The arrival ofmass consumer society did not immediately transform individuals into mesmerized, passive spectators, just looking at the gaudy spectacle before them. Capitalism`s Eye
promises to transform the way that we understand both the cultural history of capitalism in the United States and Europe and the historical roots of the mediated spectacle that dominates our world to this day.
Wal-mart World
In recent years, Wal-Mart, arguably the largest and most powerful corporation in the world, has come to represent the meaning of contemporary economic globalization. It wields significant influence over the United States economy, setting terms for a massive number of suppliers and manufacturers worldwide and helping to keep domestic inflation rates low via its ability to control costs. The chain is now undergoing a global expansion, with new stores opening everywhere from Beijing to Mexico City. Given its ability to transform the American economy, its impact on the global economy may prove to be just as significant. Adopting a global perspective, the essays in Wal-Mart World examine the economic impact of the corporation with a broad scope--from its growth in the U.S. and impact on U.S. labor relations to its fortunes in Germany, Mexico, China, and Japan. This volume will be necessary reading for all social scientists interested in the ongoing and worldwide transition from a manufacturing-driven...
Wal-mart World
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Fire Sale
In the 12th V. I. Warshawksi mystery, the private detective returns to her old South Chicago neighborhood, a visit littered with unpleasant memories, plus present-day sabotage, murder, and disappearing teenagers. After her former high-school basketball coach becomes ill with cancer, V. I. agrees to volunteer-coach the girls` team. An attempt to drum up corporate support for the team from local high-school alum Buffalo Bill Bysen, the elderly CEO of the By-Smart big-box discount store, proves a dismal failure; ironically, the Bysen family ends up appealing to V. I. instead when Bysen`s great-grandson Billy and one of the basketball team members run off together.
Fire Sale
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