Consumption And The Transformation Of Everyday Life

This book makes an important contribution to the interpretation of changing consumption in India and to other rapidly developing countries in the South. The author uses an ethnographic approach centred in the Indian state of Kerala to interrogate why and how consumption of household durables, beauty and cleanliness products are growing rapidly.

The analysis examines the importance of India's 'opening' to global capitalism after 1991, but also explores the contribution of family, gender, work migration and advertising to changing patterns of consumption. It also shows how changes in the built environment and new technologies regimes associated with energy and water have contributed to changing consumption practices.

Review: 'Critical to the future of the planet is a better understanding of how populations, which are just entering the world of mass consumption, make changes that radically effect energy use and the environment. This book fully achieves this goal by focusing upon changes in the social conventions of everyday life, their causes and their consequences.

The book shines a light on the places we need to examine if we really want to appreciate both the causes and consequences of modern consumption.' Professor Daniel Miller, University College London.