World of Consumption: The Material and the Cultural Revisited (Economics As Social Theory)

Book Description

Consumption has become one of the leading topics across the social sciences and vocational disciplines such as marketing and business studies. In this comprehensively updated and revised new edition, traditional approaches as well as the most recent literature are fully addressed and incorporated, with wide reference to theoretical and empirical work. Fine's refreshing and authoritative text includes a critical examination of such themes as:
*economic imperialism and globalization
*the world of commodities
*systems of provision and culture
*the consumer society
*public consumption.
This book presents an updated analysis of the cluttered landscape of studies of consumption that will make it required reading for students from a wide range of backgrounds including political economy, history and social science courses generally.

Customer Reviews:

important subject, okay treatment.......2003-02-08

Relationships between consumer culture and the economy seem central to understanding contemporary social life. To date the economics discipline has not been up to the task, focused as it is on things like financial markets and international trade, rather things like shopping and everyday life. Ben Fine's book is a good economic foray into consumption. It offers great diatribe against standard economic approaches to consumers and consumption. But it wanders around alot, lacks depth, and doesn't offer much in the way of new insights or perspectives. In short, while the subject of this book is important, one wishes it had been tackled more thoughtfully.

Excellent.......2003-01-23

This superb book kept me intrigued from beginning to end, and is basically a critical examination of economic imperialism and globalization; the world of commodities; systems of provision and culture; the consumer society; and public consumption.

Well worth reading.

Average customer rating:

'The Commodification of the Psyche'

World of Consumption: The Material and the Cultural Revisited
Ben Fine
Manufacturer: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Theory | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0203731190

Book Description

The World of Consumption presents a critical analysis of the major social theories of consumption. Criticizing the inappropriate response of social theory to consumerism, Ben Fine and Ellen Leopold develop a new, more inclusive theoretical approach which emphasizes different forms of determination for different products. They provide an innovative perspective on the analysis of consumption which opens up possibilities for multi-disciplinary approaches to the field. Fine and Leopold argue that individual commodities create their own distinct "systems of provision"--processes by which production, distribution, marketing and consumption are vertically integrated. They further support this argument with extensive case studies of the food and fashion industries.

Customer Reviews:

'The Commodification of the Psyche'.......2000-04-27

The World of Consumption is a really fantastic book. It explains modern consumption theory on everything from food to advertising. It is the most complete book on the subject I have encoutered through many years of research. The only difficultly one might have is that it is laden with theory. If one does not have a good background in modern theory (from Marx to Baudrilliard), then the excellent ideas in this book are difficult to understand.

Book Description

This book demonstrates how to transform Public Sector organizations by linking daily work activities with high level strategy and vision.

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Understanding the process

Start With the Soil: The Organic Gardener's Guide to Improving Soil for Higher Yields, More Beautiful Flowers, and a Healthy, Easy-Care Garden
Grace Gershuny
Manufacturer: Rodale Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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Secrets to Great Soil (Storey's Gardening Skills Illustrated)

Botany for Gardeners

The Book of Garden Secrets

The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (A Gardener's Supply Book)

Introduction to Permaculture

ASIN: 0875969607

Customer Reviews:

Understanding the process.......2004-09-10

An organic guide to developing and maintaining healthy soil, this book is organized in two parts. "Understanding Your Soil" explores the chemistry and underground wildlife. "Managing Your Soil" is the hands-on section. Chapters offer prescriptions for problem soils (inadequate drainage, slopes, hardpan, contamination) and catering to the needs of vegetables, flowers, lawns, trees and shrubs, container plants.

While the second portion provides for immediate action, the first half is a readable discussion of the interactions of plants and soil. Gershuny shows how to recognize characteristics of your soil by observing weeds and plant growth, and enters the microscopic world of compost and humus. A valuable introduction to the world beneath our feet.

Improving Your Soil: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-202 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-202)

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Improving Your Soil: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-202 (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-202)
Stu Campbell
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 1580172237

Book Description

Since 1973, Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletins have offered practical, hands-on instructions designed to help readers master dozens of country living skills quickly and easily. There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.

Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening: Improving the Soil (Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening)

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Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening: Improving the Soil (Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening)
Erin Hynes
Manufacturer: Rodale Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Agronomy | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Improving Your Garden Soil (Ortho Books)

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Improving Your Garden Soil (Ortho Books)
Ortho Books , and Barbara P. Lawton
Manufacturer: Ortho Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Use this detailed guide to turn bare ground into a beautiful garden. Includes step-by-step help for identifying and correcting soil problems and for setting up a practical garden maintenance program.

Average customer rating:
Don't Call It "Dirt"!: Improving Your Garden Soil
Gordon Lloyd
Manufacturer: Bookworm Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0916302121

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Improving Garden Soil with Green Manures
Richard Alther , and Richard O. Raymond
Manufacturer: Storey Books,US
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0882660314

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Improving Garden Soils (Nk Lawn and Garden Step-By-Step Visual Guides)
Philip Hardgrave
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0380766663

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Improving Your Garden Through Soil Manag
Earl Downey
Manufacturer: CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PVRQ60

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Improving your garden through soil management
Earl F Downey
Manufacturer: Crown Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007E3BRS

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Start with the Soil, The Organic Gardener's Guide to Improving Soil for Higher Yields, More Beautiful Flowers, and a Healthy, Easy-care Garden
Grace Gershuny
Manufacturer: Rodale Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W7BYSS

Book Description

The earth is home to a wild proliferation of species, millions of life-forms that come in a spectacular--and often bizarre--array of sizes, shapes, and colors. But what triggers this fantastic explosion of life? How does one species split into another? Even Charles Darwin was baffled before
such questions, calling them "The Mystery of Mysteries."
In this fascinating, witty, and vividly written book, Menno Schilthuizen illuminates these questions, showing how biologists and zoologists over the last two centuries have responded to them, assessing our current knowledge of species, and proposing his own solution to Darwin's mystery. Using
the sometimes-vicious academic debates and the powerful personalities of scientists as background, Schilthuizen explores the meandering path of species research and sets it out in the clearest possible terms. From looking at how we define a species, to exploring how geographical isolation and sexual
selection contribute to making new species, to showing how species may appear gradually or instantaneously, Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions offers a comprehensive account of this evolutionary drama. Along the way, we get to know a remarkable cast of characters from the plant and animal kingdoms, from
the copper-loving monkey flower to sockeye salmon, fire-bellied toads, lyrebirds, apple maggot flies, and many others. Most important, we get a clear picture of all the conditions necessary for one species to give birth to another.
Written with engaging panache, and illuminating an area of study intensely relevant to any assessment of the earth's biodiversity, Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions will appeal to everyone--scientist and layperson alike--curious about nature and animal behavior.

Customer Reviews:

evolutionary theory for everyone.......2005-07-05

One of the deepest questions in evolution is how new species form. A common view is that some members of a species have to become spatially isolated from the other members of the species in order for them to become a new species. This view, that a new species cannot form in the same territory as the old species has been challenged by many biologists who have used a variety of experimental and observational methods. They have shown that natural selection is a bigger factor than isolation in the formation of new species and that members of the same species living in the same territory can occupy different environmental niches. Since each niche is associated with different selection pressures, new species can and do form on the same territory as old ones.
This new chapter of scientific history can now be read by everyone thanks to this clear, entertaining and even amusing book.

best book I've read in a long time.......2004-03-29

I couldn't put this book down! I was extremely impressed with this author and wish he had written a dozen books already! I learned so much from this author and would highly recommend it to both scientists and non-scientists. I can see this book being looked at 50 years from now as well, so people can see where we got our evolutionary theories of today.

Entertaining, up-to-date view of speciation theory.......2001-09-26

This is an extremely entertaining overview of the major theories of how new species emerge during biological evolution. Ideas from the technical literature such as allopatric speciation, sympatric speciation, and speciation through polyploidy are presented with lots of concrete examples, making the ideas very easy to digest.

The science really comes alive in this book. Interviews with the scientists in the thick of research are enough to get you cheering for them. Also, Schilthuizen dramatizes in an engaging way the disputes between advocates of different theories of speciation.

Finally, a useful glossary is provided at the end for anyone rusty on terminology from biology.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick, fun, yet informative, well-referenced, and up-to-date account of the state of the art in evolutionary biology.

Average customer rating:
Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions: Speciation--The Evolution of New Species
Menno Schilthuizen
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKR0HM

Product Description

Illustrated throughout with beautiful and striking color photography of poignant and heartwarming images from the animal kingdom. Adorable!!!

Average customer rating:

World Needs Hugs X20 Counterpack
Andrew Davies
Manufacturer: Robson Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1861058152

Book Description

Here is a book as useful to boatowners as it is beautiful. Yacht Style provides a wealth of innovative solutions to questions of light, space, color, materials, access, and stowage in boats from small cruisers to megayachts, both power and sail.

One of today's most gifted nautical writers, Dan Spurr roams freely above and below decks, missing nothing, sometimes applauding, sometimes shaking his head. His lively and opinionated text is further enhanced by interviews with such luminaries as powerboat designer Tom Fexas, cruising sailboat designer Robert Perry, and yacht interior designer Blanche Bloomfield.

Carefully designed and crafted, Yacht Style is a book worthy of its subject--the boatowner's ultimate idea book.

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful display of yacht decoration and craftsmanship.......2003-05-31

This is a gem of book, more devoted to the art of designing beautiful details and accomodations in yachts, than to aspects of naval design. It deals mostly with relatively large sailing boats. Offers very interesting insights into what is appropriate in interior design and decoration of a sailing yacht and what is not, i.e. the type of textile designs used in furniture that would make you sick with movement while underway. Full of photos the book covers details in almost every area of the deck and accomodations of top-of-the-line yachts. An interesting and artful addition to a design and decoration library. Full of beautiful ideas. Well worth the price.

Needs Something.......2000-08-14

The book text to me is rather boring explaining the obvious in the wonderful pictures it does include. However, I feel the book could have made even more use of photographs. The book does have wonderful pictures, but really didn't leave me with any ideas I could use. My partially biased opinion is based on the fact that I was looking for remodeling ideas for powerboats, and this book does tend to focus more on sailing yachts. My boating library could do with or without this one.

Customer Reviews:

Very cute!.......2002-01-12

This is a really cute idea. There are 52 cards, and each one has a great idea for a cheap date. Most of them are fun & creative, and also inexpensive. A couple are a bit unrealistic (take $10 each and get on the Amtrak - take it as far as you can go, roundtrip, for $10 each... I don't know WHERE Amtrak would take anyone for $5 each way!)

And some are just too vague, but most of them are good ideas.

Here are a few:

visit a petting zoo
find a deserted field at night, lay out on some blankets and watch the stars -- then tell spooky stories till you're both so scared you have to find civilization.
dress up and go to a cheap diner for dinner

Most of them are things one would NEVER think of doing on a date, and that's the real charm of these little cards.

The cards are printed on very heavy cardstock and they're nicely illustrated.

These cards saved my marriage.......1997-02-27

These cards supply a wide range of ideas to remedy the "What do you want to do tonight?" syndrome. Some dates may seem a bit corny or embarrassing, but you'll laugh about it later

Book Description

What kind of childhood experiences helped Heidi to become a successful Disney Animator?

Who inspired her?

Why did she become such a prankster?

What challenges did she face as a young woman striving to become an Animator at Walt Disney Productions in the 1970Â's?

What was studio life really like?

Titter titterÂ…

What outrageous and hilarious things did Heidi and the other young Animators do while they worked for Disney?

Why did Heidi and 15 other gifted young Animators all walk out of Walt Disney Productions to make The Secret of NIMH?

Find out!

Heidi Guedel tells you all about it with unflinching honesty and humor.

Customer Reviews:

What a Movie this would make.......2007-09-12

An amazing, archetypal hero's odyssey,
I could not put it down.
I attended BHHS and knew Heidi and many of the other players, and can attest to the veracity of all she writes.
Any Producers out there, here is a fantastic opportunity!

A Great Read.......2007-09-03

The author's descriptive prose reeks of imagination, humor, and insight.

She comprehends human motivation, and she is equally in touch with her own feelings. And while she DOES describe human behavior in the most unflinching manner, she also demonstrates empathy, compassion, and the ability to rise above it all with laughter and good will... the numerous hilarious pranks, notwithstanding. Don't miss this.

This book explains a lot about the Heidi I knew..........2006-06-21

Heidi was my step-cousin but we lost touch after Helen Parrish (her step-mother and my aunt) died. While reconnecting with Helen's two children last year, one (Choddy) showed me a copy of Heidi's book and I promptly bought a copy and read it.

I visited Helen and John Guedel occasionally, although I lived in Atlanta at the time. I remember Heidi as being perennially sullen and aloof but this book details "the rest of the story". Clearly I would've been considerably more sympathetic had I known the hardships she suffered during her earlier childhood.

This is a great story and well told, undoubtedly a catharsis for Heidi but a great read, too. I was disappointed at not learning how her life evolved following her departure from Disney. Guess I'll have to wait for the sequel.

I'm going back east for another reunion with Helen's children this week and to see my last living aunt on the Parrish side, Kathy, whom I haven't seen in 35 years. Thinking about it reminded me to share my thoughts on Heidi's book.

Read it...I think you'll enjoy it even if you weren't there.

OH! The iconoclastic sense of humor!!!!!!!.......2006-02-08

OH_MY_GOD. This author posts on a site called Internet Infidels, and believe me she STILL pulls no punches. She still posts under her real name. I wouldn't if I were her. I'm sure the outraged religious fundamentalists will come here next and try to pan her book. WOW.....After following some of her posts, I looked up Heidi Guedel's profile on the Internet Infidels site and it led me here to Amazon and her book. I've just finished it. Now I understand...... and I can't stop laughing.

After you learn about her childhood, and her sanity-saving ability to turn even the worst human behavior and circumstances into humor (much like Groucho Marx did, and she met Groucho, by the way, because her father produced the Groucho TV show) you get to ride the waves of laughter along with her as she turns Disney Studios upside-down by stamping "BULL$**T" on the company memos they posted in the hallways, and putting fake puddles of spilled beer on stacks of priceless animation drawings just to watch a rather pompous artist implode. There are many more pranks and scandalous tales about some famous artists in the animation business, including one who recently won an Academy Award for 3-D special effects.

And far from poking fun only at everyone else, she bares her own soul and exposes her own legendary boo-boos - like accidentally putting a stack of drawings by famous Disney animator Ollie Johnston on the roof of her car and driving off without it. She returns in the middle of the night, realizing what she must have done, and finds one drawing left on the street in front of the studio, with a tire mark across it. What she does about it next is so poignantly funny..... but I won't spoil it for you. Read this book. It is so special and so REAL.

A brilliant mind with a wild sense of humor.......2006-01-07

I first became aware of Heidi Guedel when I was lurking around reading debates on Suijuris and Internet Infidels. I am amazed at this person's writing talent. I am also surprised that she posts under her real name, considering the firey way that she stands up for her opinions. I am not surprised that some people that she out argued on an internet forum have tried to pan her book by putting insulting reviews here. But this book really speaks for itself. After I became impressed with Heidi's unusual ability to debate so brilliantly with all kinds of people on many different subjects, I did a search of her on google and found her book. I looked inside and could not stop reading. If the whole book had been available here I would have read it right through to the end. I could identify with her feelings right along with her. This book is not sad or depressing, it is inspiring. She has such courage and determination. She became a Disney animator and met some of the greatest and most famous animators of all time, like Milt Kahl and Ollie Johnston. She is mischievious and imaginative, which comes through in the writing. Most of all her astounding intelligence comes through in her writing, both in her book and in the debates she participates in on the internet. It's too bad that this book was not published by a big company that would advertize it and promote it. It is an undiscovered treasure.

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