Name: The Sum of Small Things
ISBN: 9780691162737

作者: Elizabeth Currid-Halkett
出版社: Princeton University Press
副标题: A Theory of the Aspirational Class
出版年: 2017-5-23
页数: 272
定价: USD 29.95
装帧: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780691162737

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内容简介 · · · · · ·

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How the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite, and how their consumer habits affect us all In today's world, the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite. Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry NPR tote bags, and breast-feed their babies. They care about discreet, inconspicuous consumption--like eating free-range chicken and heirloom tomatoes, wearing organic cotton shirts and TOMS shoes, and listening to the Serial podcast. They use their purchasing power to hire nannies and housekeepers, to cultivate their children's growth, and to practice yoga and Pilates. In The Sum of Small Things, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett dubs this segment of society "the aspirational class" and discusses how, through deft decisions about education, health, parenting, and retirement, the aspirational class reproduces wealth and upward mobility, deepening the ever-wider class divide. Exploring the rise of the aspirational class, Currid-Halkett considers how much has changed since the 1899 publication of Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class. In that inflammatory classic, which coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption," Veblen described upper-class frivolities: men who used walking sticks for show, and women who bought silver flatware despite the effectiveness of cheaper aluminum utensils. Now, Currid-Halkett argues, the power of material goods as symbols of social position has diminished due to their accessibility. As a result, the aspirational class has altered its consumer habits away from overt materialism to more subtle expenditures that reveal status and knowledge. And these transformations influence how we all make choices. With a rich narrative and extensive interviews and research, The Sum of Small Things illustrates how cultural capital leads to lifestyle shifts and what this forecasts, not just for the aspirational class but for everyone.

作者简介 · · · · · ·

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett is the James Irvine Chair in Urban and Regional Planning and professor of public policy at the University of Southern California. She is the author of The Warhol Economy and Starstruck . Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, New Yorker, and Wall Street Journal. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two sons.

目录 · · · · · ·

Acknowledgments ix 1 The Twenty-first-Century "Leisure" Class 1 2 Conspicuous Consumption in the Twenty-first Century 24 3 Ballet Slippers and Yale Tuition: Inconspicuous Consumption and the New Elites 46 4 Motherhood as Conspicuous Leisure in the Twenty-first Century 78 5 Conspicuous Production 110 6 Landscapes of Consumption 148 7 "To Get Rich Is Glorious"? The State of Consumption and Class in America 182 Appendix 199 Notes 221 References 233 Index 247

原文摘录 · · · · · · ( 全部 )

在工业革命和蒸汽机发明以前，很多商品只有真正的富人才买得起，普通民众仍然无力负担缝纫机、打字机（维多利亚时代的“电子产品”）等物品。1851年在伦敦举办的万国工业博览会上，展示了莫里斯壁纸和钢琴等许多来自新兴工业国家的奢侈品，但它们都属于富人。随着机械化和专业化使批量生产变为现实，把这些纯正的消费品分配给不断壮大的中产阶级开始成为可能。模仿不再是靠近精英阶层的唯一方法。通过批量生产和快速信贷（从20世纪后半叶开始发展、更多人开始与精英阶层消费相同的产品。蒸汽机的出现引发了18世纪的工业革命，直到20世纪初，它仍然是世界上最重要的动机，后来才逐渐让位于内燃机和汽轮机等。 (查看原文)

糊涂的猫猫 2023-03-03 13:31:27

—— 引自章节：第1章 21世纪的“有闲阶级”
以制造业为主的经济的崩溃使社会和经济的流动性发生了明显改变。西方经济的去工业化（以美国和英国为代表）可以从以下三个方面加以说明：市场的过度饱和（一个家庭只能买那么多洗碗机），技术和自动化（机器成本低，而且在工厂生产线上生产速度比人快），以及全球化（其他地方的人工成本更低，运输技术和电脑的普及让生产外包至东南亚或南美洲成为可能）。4因此，那些能带来美好生活的高薪工厂工作在美国迅速消失。1970年，美国有1/4的劳动力受雇于制造业。然而到了2005年，这一数据下降到10%。35数字不仅仅是从统计的角度令人惊讶，同时也反映出制造业的衰退，而这直接关系到与之息息相关的中产阶级的社会经济契约。这些工作报酬丰厚，但相对缺乏技术含量，很多美国中产阶级因此无须凭借出身和当今社会向上流动所需的大学本科学历，就获得了成功、物质享受和经济与社会保障。而随着这类工厂工作流向发展中国家和工厂直销店的关闭，这些稳定的中产阶级也就失去了生存之道。去工业化不仅损害了主要城市中心区（许多工厂所在地），也让整个国家面临巨大的失业危机。“ (查看原文)

糊涂的猫猫 2023-03-03 14:45:03

—— 引自章节：第1章 21世纪的“有闲阶级”