Collecting In A Consumer Society

This book is about the history of museum collecting and how it has changed over time. It also looks at aspects of consumer culture, such as advertising, department stores, mass merchandising, and consumer desire. The book focuses on collecting as a form of material consumption. The author has added a new preface that updates the book with new references and an analysis of how the Internet has effected collecting cultures.

Collecting, whether by individuals or institutions, is a form of consumption. In this revised paperback edition, Russell W. Belk examines the relationship between the development of the consumer society and the rise of collecting by individuals and institutions. He also considers how and why people collect, as individuals, corporations and museums, and the impact this collecting has on us and our culture. This text outlines the history of museum collecting from ancient civilizations to the present. It also looks at aspects of consumer culture - advertising, department stores, mass merchandising, consumer desire, and how this relates to the activity of collecting. It focuses on collecting as material consumption. The author's new preface updates this book with new references and an analysis of how the Internet has effected collecting cultures, ensuring that this work should be useful essential for anyone involved with the process of collecting, across a variety of disciplines - anthropology, psychology, consumption studies, museum studies, and sociology.