Modernity Global and Local: Consumption and the Rise of the West
Author(s)
Clunas, Craig
Abstract
Craig Clunas critically assesses three volumes published under the broad rubric of “Culture and Consumption in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.” He explains that these and other related works have come to be seen as propagating notions such as “the birth of a consumer society” and a “consumer revolution.” However, Clunas argues, contentions like these more or less explicitly involve assumptions regarding “the rise of the West.” And his analysis reveals that there is no real level of internal agreement about the validity of these concepts among the participating authors, despite the way the works have come to be referenced. He also discusses the methodological evolution of the idea of “consumption” over the course of the three volumes. And he critiques the overt concentration on Anglo-American evidence in the construction of this idea. Clunas concludes his thoughtful review by drawing attention to some examples of what he considers good historical practice to argue for attention to consumerisms and modernities as multiple and not unitary phenomena.
