Vicarious Consumers - (Modern Economic and Social History) by Manuel Perez-Garcia (Hardcover)

About the Book

The birth of a mass consumer society in Western Europe has been the subject of much scholarly debate in recent years. In order to come to a further understanding of the issue, this book adopts an analytical approach, paying special attention to the socio-cultural and economic transfers which occur when different commodities are introduced to territories with diverse values and identities. In particular, it examines the role of merchants and their important influence on consumer decisions, alongside a systematic analysis of probate inventories from southern Spain, to reveal shifts in the patterns of consumption of new goods in urban and rural families, underlining a growing interest in new, exotic and foreign goods.

Book Synopsis

The birth of a mass consumer society in Western Europe has been the subject of much scholarly debate in recent years. In order to come to a further understanding of the issue, this book adopts an analytical approach, paying special attention to the socio-cultural and economic transfers which occur when different commodities are introduced to territories with diverse values and identities. In particular, it examines the role of merchants and their important influence on consumer decisions, alongside a systematic analysis of probate inventories from southern Spain, to reveal shifts in the patterns of consumption of new goods in urban and rural families, underlining a growing interest in new, exotic and foreign goods.

Review Quotes

'...this book is worth reading. It manages to combine numerous sources, as well as handling an extensive bibliography and different approaches. It employs an econometric approach to measure consumer behaviour in southern-eastern Spain. It also analyses the merchant circuits in the Mediterranean from a social perspective, that is, from the point of view of both consumers and merchants, as well as taking into consideration gender, social strata, and changes in tastes and fashions that led to a better connected and global world.' Economic History Review

About the Author

Manuel Pérez-GarcÃ-a (www.manuelperezgarcia.eu) is lecturer at Renmin University of China. He graduated in history from the Universidad de Murcia, Spain, obtained his doctorate degree in economic history at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy) and was visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of the book Armas, limpieza de sangre y linaje. ReproducciÃ3n social de familias poderosas de Murcia (siglos XVI-XIX).