Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Consumer society
(2,245 words)

1. Concept and research

The term consumer society was introduced into economic and social history in the 1980s and later found its way into cultural history too. Rapidly increasing production and consumption in 18th-century Britain were interpreted as symptomatic of the emergence of a consumer society in the United Kingdom [10]; similar arguments were made in respect of Austria in the 18th and 19th centuries [13]. The scholarly debate has since moved on in two directions.…

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Schmale, Wolfgang, “Consumer society”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_022563>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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