The theory of the leisure class / Theodore Veblen ; edited with an Introduction and notes by Martha Banta
Material type: TextLanguage: English Publication details: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2009Description: xxxv, 263 p. ; 20 cmISBN:- 9780199552580
Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Notes | Date due | Barcode |
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Book | TBS Barcelona | HB831 VEB (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | B02352 | ||
Book | TBS Barcelona | HB831 VEB (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | RESERVE | B02351 |
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HB801 BEI The consumer society : myths and structures | HB801 BEI The consumer society : myths and structures | HB831 VEB The theory of the leisure class | HB831 VEB The theory of the leisure class | HB841 ARM Luxury and visual culture | HB841 GUR The creation of the extraordinary : perspectives on luxury | HB841 URW Luxury and waste of life |
Bibliography
In his scathing The Theory of the Leisure Class, Thorstein Veblen produced a landmark study of affluent American society that exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and waste that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social behavior. Veblen's analysis of the evolutionary process sees greed as the overriding motive in the modern economy, and with an impartial gaze he examines the human cost paid when social institutions exploit the consumption of unessential goods for the sake of personal profit. Fashion, beauty, animals, sports, the home, the clergy, scholars--all are assessed for their true usefulness and found wanting. Indeed, Veblen's critique covers all aspects of modern life from dress, class, the position of women, home decoration, industry, business, and sport, to religion, scholarship, and education. The targets of Veblen's coruscating satire are as evident today as they were a century ago, and his book still has the power to shock and
enlighten. Martha Banta's introduction illuminates Veblen's uncompromising arguments as it highlights the literary force of Veblen's writing and its influence on later American writers such as Edith Wharton, Henry James, Dos Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. She also sheds light on his critique of the plight of women and his evolutionary arguments as they relate to modern society.