We spend more time shopping than doing anything else, after sleep and
work. So why is it not taken more seriously? The answer: we take
shopping for granted. Indeed, culture can only 'work' by being taken for
granted. This paradox - that what is most familiar, like shopping, is
also the hardest to 'see' analytically - provides the starting point for
this compelling examination of the many dimensions of the shopping
experience.
Shopping enables readers to realize the significance of their shopping
memories and milestones, how the rhythm of the day or week revolves as
much around shop opening hours as working hours or bus times, and why
Mayor Giuliani was right after 9/11 to tell Americans to keep on
shopping. From an exciting cultural perspective, Jenny Shaw explores how
shopping is viewed, the history behind its 'fall from grace', its part
in the common culture, its role in helping us craft new identities, hold
on to old ones, adjust to change, and generally 'hold us together' both
as individuals and communities.
Students of sociology, anthropology, social psychology, media and
business studies interested in culture and the everyday world will be
gripped by this engaging and accessible guide to the meaning behind what
the ordinary shopper actually does and why shopping remains so popular
despite social and cultural changes.
