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annagrac's review against another edition
5.0
Dealing with the elephant in the room first - this book is huge and dense and scary, don't let it put you off! It is a remarkable work that provides an amazing insight into how people have lived, what they treasured and how tastes have changed. It is remarkable not just how much changes, but also how much stays the same.
Part 1 of the book provides a chronological view of material possessions which occasionally gets bogged down and over-whelming, but stick with it. Part 2 takes a thematic approach drawing on the lessons of part 1 and looking at topics such as products for children and the elderly, nationalism/localism, waste & recycling and religions & welfare.
It's very fascinating and gives you a lot of information to process.
As an aside - the cover is beautiful. Well done to whoever designed The Empire of Things to be such a pretty "thing" itself.
Part 1 of the book provides a chronological view of material possessions which occasionally gets bogged down and over-whelming, but stick with it. Part 2 takes a thematic approach drawing on the lessons of part 1 and looking at topics such as products for children and the elderly, nationalism/localism, waste & recycling and religions & welfare.
It's very fascinating and gives you a lot of information to process.
As an aside - the cover is beautiful. Well done to whoever designed The Empire of Things to be such a pretty "thing" itself.
cups's review against another edition
3.0
A whopping big boi this was! Took me a good 6 weeks of setting daily reading goals as you know was in the midst of moving countries and attending weddings. I had tried to read this book a year ago but lost hope after 50 pages! Alas we have finished him up and would recommend but only if you're in no rush to finish up a book. This book is MASSIVE but very interesting, one can get bogged down in the details as it is largely details. But learned lots of fun and yet always slightly depressing facts. Let's start with a wild one for you! "As late as 1700, all European ships combined brought back from Asia 230,000 tonnes of goods a year, an amount that would into two big container ships today"
However, it's an oversimplification to say that the post WW2 era was the catalyst for the consumer society because sadly, we've had the desire to be consumers for a good few centuries now. The post WW2 era just created a wild boom in consumption to sustain the factories. Interestingly what really changed is state sponsorship of consumerism. For example, in the 15th and 16th century quite a few European countries such as Italy and the Netherlands had anti consumption laws to prevent sumptuous lifestyles. In Venice there laws went so far as to dictate how much cutlery a couple could receive as wedding presents. Goods also tended to be in circulation more than they are now, with semi bartering systems in place in pawn shops. It became clear as I read this that governments need to get more involved and stop leaving it to consumers and companies. (Obviously not to this degree but we would never have reached this level of consumption without government)
This book also showed that there's no one path to consumption as so many countries have followed different models to get to pretty much the same level. Germany and the US followed different models (Americans used more credit whilst Germans saved money and don't use credit but production and waste remains relatively equal.)
This book does a good job of not having a Eurocentric approach and focused on Asian countries and their shift in consumption as well. It also explained the way slave and colonialist goods were brought into Europe and how they were marketed. Lots of fun history about 'staples' of European diets. Coffee had to be remade into a different style of drink in Europe to make it refined enough to be drank, same with tea if I'm not remembering wrong.
Also the spread of these drinks was mostly due the industrial revolution as people needed to be caffeine-ed up. As late as 1724 all of England made do with 660 tons of coffee a year, which if divided equally, is one weak cup every 3 weeks. Tea consumption was barely higher than this.
The last 100 pages focused heavily on our current consumption and how insane it is. The fact that we seem to be shifting from physical gift giving to experience gifts does nothing in terms of our impact on the planet. Our increased standards of living are also something to contend with and seem unsustainable but I'm just hoping we get some AI to fix it bc I do like showering more than once a week. Moreover it seems our recycling is more just a way to make ourselves feel better and really not enough to be tackling climate change. Interestingly though eliminating food waste would do wonders! Appaz "if Britons were to buy only the food they would actually eat, they would cut CO2 emissions by 17 million tonnes - equivalent to taking every 5th car off the roads. " A fun food for thought if you'll excuse the pun!!
Anyways theres way too much in this book to list, but yeah learned a lot (that I need to write down or I will forget in about a week tops) and would recommend if one has the patience for it. We all need to be minimalists (tell that to the Sarah that bought 9 plants this week) the end thank you for coming to my TedTalk.
However, it's an oversimplification to say that the post WW2 era was the catalyst for the consumer society because sadly, we've had the desire to be consumers for a good few centuries now. The post WW2 era just created a wild boom in consumption to sustain the factories. Interestingly what really changed is state sponsorship of consumerism. For example, in the 15th and 16th century quite a few European countries such as Italy and the Netherlands had anti consumption laws to prevent sumptuous lifestyles. In Venice there laws went so far as to dictate how much cutlery a couple could receive as wedding presents. Goods also tended to be in circulation more than they are now, with semi bartering systems in place in pawn shops. It became clear as I read this that governments need to get more involved and stop leaving it to consumers and companies. (Obviously not to this degree but we would never have reached this level of consumption without government)
This book also showed that there's no one path to consumption as so many countries have followed different models to get to pretty much the same level. Germany and the US followed different models (Americans used more credit whilst Germans saved money and don't use credit but production and waste remains relatively equal.)
This book does a good job of not having a Eurocentric approach and focused on Asian countries and their shift in consumption as well. It also explained the way slave and colonialist goods were brought into Europe and how they were marketed. Lots of fun history about 'staples' of European diets. Coffee had to be remade into a different style of drink in Europe to make it refined enough to be drank, same with tea if I'm not remembering wrong.
Also the spread of these drinks was mostly due the industrial revolution as people needed to be caffeine-ed up. As late as 1724 all of England made do with 660 tons of coffee a year, which if divided equally, is one weak cup every 3 weeks. Tea consumption was barely higher than this.
The last 100 pages focused heavily on our current consumption and how insane it is. The fact that we seem to be shifting from physical gift giving to experience gifts does nothing in terms of our impact on the planet. Our increased standards of living are also something to contend with and seem unsustainable but I'm just hoping we get some AI to fix it bc I do like showering more than once a week. Moreover it seems our recycling is more just a way to make ourselves feel better and really not enough to be tackling climate change. Interestingly though eliminating food waste would do wonders! Appaz "if Britons were to buy only the food they would actually eat, they would cut CO2 emissions by 17 million tonnes - equivalent to taking every 5th car off the roads. " A fun food for thought if you'll excuse the pun!!
Anyways theres way too much in this book to list, but yeah learned a lot (that I need to write down or I will forget in about a week tops) and would recommend if one has the patience for it. We all need to be minimalists (tell that to the Sarah that bought 9 plants this week) the end thank you for coming to my TedTalk.
haoyang's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
what book is about: traces history of consumption across the globe, from Renaissance Italy and late Ming China to today; not just consumerism but also concepts associated with it (moves across time and space; is both chronological and thematic)
book's structure (conceptual structuring):
1st half is historical: from the blossoming of culture of goods in the fifteenth century to the end of the cold war in the 1980s and the resurgence of Asian consumers since (but also thematic)
2nd half is history of concepts: takes central topics of concern today and places them in a historical context (such as excess and credit, generational identities, religion and ethics... )
book's 'thesis'
- consumption: acquisition, flow and use of things
- consumerism: culture of instant gratification where private spending drives the economy and dominates everyday life
- consumption has a long history, not necessarily because of
1) social/moral failure where people want more than they really need and are egged on by brands, advertisers and corporations and by their desire to show off and emulate their superiors and
2) post-war perpetual growth drive (which are factors unique to the affluent society)
- rampant consumption is the continuation of longer trends underway before wwii: the rise in domestic comfort, fashion and novelty; shopping for pleasure; a taste for exotic articles; rising levels of water and energy use; the cult of domestic possessions and hobbies; urban entertainment; credit and debt; the notion of the 'material self'
- state, social movements, corporations, technological innovation all play a part in engendering rampant consumption and all have a part to play in ending it
- change today is framed in terms of choice, market and sovereign consumer but states, cities, and social movements play an active role in laying down material infrastructures and promoting ideals of a higher material standard of living for all
- neo-liberalist invention of the sovereign consumer and dogmatic commitment to 'choice' --> abdication of state's responsibility/power to change things
certain content points
- efficiency paradox (technological innovations free up time but then further intensifies energy use)
- how the well-to-do prefer intensive leisure after recreation became democratised (possibly because the rich benefit from more fulfilling work--so don't really need break from work--and have greater personal mobility and access to leisure activities + more competitive society so need to do more in order to enhance human capital)
- never really understood why debt was such a grave problem in certain countries and so was surprised by the statistics: by 2003, the household saving rate in Japan had dropped to 6%, in Korea to 3%; well below 11% in France, Germany and Italy)
- how to change things: “Politics and business are powerful, too. Only if they do their bit, if the topic of consumption is given greater weight in education, and financial incentives and new structures for a different way of life are created, will we succeed in making the transition to a sustainable consumer society.” (from an interview)
- agree that consumption needs to be discussed and debated publicity; the prevailing belief is still that consumption is necessary for economic growth and that it allows for citizens to live the good life (which the government should not interfere with); it ignores all the negative effects of consumption in its current form, making sustainable consumption merely something championed by environmental groups, preventing it from being mainstreamed. it remains a taboo topic since it infringes on morality as well, and the government has played a role in encouraging it since independence. but how else can we effect a paradigm shift? can't just depend on individual change.
what i liked about it
- historical realism (does not really express moral judgment) -- sobering statistics comparing household debt as a percentage of net disposable income in usa and japan; 130% in Japan, 110% in USA
- breadth of case studies (singapore!)
- is an epic history yes -- both breadth and depth -- no mean feat
- well-written epilogue (actually pretty well-written throughout but requires immense focus from reader otherwise easy to get lost)
what i disliked about it
- could have been more succinct
- not that engaging, unlike hobsbawm's writing; maybe i'm just not that interested in such histories (history of concept as opposed to history of a particular period?)
- not much focus on corporations? in epilogue for example -- how to achieve green growth if corporations continue encouraging excessive consumption?
- 'It's inevitable that a book of such scope winds up with a few flaws. For all its winning approaches — the interplay between comfort, convenience, and status; the role of welfare as an economic engine; an emphasis on everyday life as a microcosm of the world at large; the downside to the conservation and fair-trade movements — Empire occasionally lapses into textbook-speak. And the occasional clump of statistics, while supporting his points, doesn't always help. Maybe it's just a symptom of size, but Empire's coverage of e-commerce and how it's radically altered consumerism in the 21st century feels relatively skimpy; his assertions that "the internet has added a new layer, not created a revolutionary break" and "new technologies don't automatically replace existing patterns of use" don't carry as much conviction as the rest of the book.'
in short: insightful, densely researched, comprehensive, possibly one of the most ambitious books out there on consumption; worth the read
book's structure (conceptual structuring):
1st half is historical: from the blossoming of culture of goods in the fifteenth century to the end of the cold war in the 1980s and the resurgence of Asian consumers since (but also thematic)
2nd half is history of concepts: takes central topics of concern today and places them in a historical context (such as excess and credit, generational identities, religion and ethics... )
book's 'thesis'
- consumption: acquisition, flow and use of things
- consumerism: culture of instant gratification where private spending drives the economy and dominates everyday life
- consumption has a long history, not necessarily because of
1) social/moral failure where people want more than they really need and are egged on by brands, advertisers and corporations and by their desire to show off and emulate their superiors and
2) post-war perpetual growth drive (which are factors unique to the affluent society)
- rampant consumption is the continuation of longer trends underway before wwii: the rise in domestic comfort, fashion and novelty; shopping for pleasure; a taste for exotic articles; rising levels of water and energy use; the cult of domestic possessions and hobbies; urban entertainment; credit and debt; the notion of the 'material self'
- state, social movements, corporations, technological innovation all play a part in engendering rampant consumption and all have a part to play in ending it
- change today is framed in terms of choice, market and sovereign consumer but states, cities, and social movements play an active role in laying down material infrastructures and promoting ideals of a higher material standard of living for all
- neo-liberalist invention of the sovereign consumer and dogmatic commitment to 'choice' --> abdication of state's responsibility/power to change things
certain content points
- efficiency paradox (technological innovations free up time but then further intensifies energy use)
- how the well-to-do prefer intensive leisure after recreation became democratised (possibly because the rich benefit from more fulfilling work--so don't really need break from work--and have greater personal mobility and access to leisure activities + more competitive society so need to do more in order to enhance human capital)
- never really understood why debt was such a grave problem in certain countries and so was surprised by the statistics: by 2003, the household saving rate in Japan had dropped to 6%, in Korea to 3%; well below 11% in France, Germany and Italy)
- how to change things: “Politics and business are powerful, too. Only if they do their bit, if the topic of consumption is given greater weight in education, and financial incentives and new structures for a different way of life are created, will we succeed in making the transition to a sustainable consumer society.” (from an interview)
- agree that consumption needs to be discussed and debated publicity; the prevailing belief is still that consumption is necessary for economic growth and that it allows for citizens to live the good life (which the government should not interfere with); it ignores all the negative effects of consumption in its current form, making sustainable consumption merely something championed by environmental groups, preventing it from being mainstreamed. it remains a taboo topic since it infringes on morality as well, and the government has played a role in encouraging it since independence. but how else can we effect a paradigm shift? can't just depend on individual change.
what i liked about it
- historical realism (does not really express moral judgment) -- sobering statistics comparing household debt as a percentage of net disposable income in usa and japan; 130% in Japan, 110% in USA
- breadth of case studies (singapore!)
- is an epic history yes -- both breadth and depth -- no mean feat
- well-written epilogue (actually pretty well-written throughout but requires immense focus from reader otherwise easy to get lost)
what i disliked about it
- could have been more succinct
- not that engaging, unlike hobsbawm's writing; maybe i'm just not that interested in such histories (history of concept as opposed to history of a particular period?)
- not much focus on corporations? in epilogue for example -- how to achieve green growth if corporations continue encouraging excessive consumption?
- 'It's inevitable that a book of such scope winds up with a few flaws. For all its winning approaches — the interplay between comfort, convenience, and status; the role of welfare as an economic engine; an emphasis on everyday life as a microcosm of the world at large; the downside to the conservation and fair-trade movements — Empire occasionally lapses into textbook-speak. And the occasional clump of statistics, while supporting his points, doesn't always help. Maybe it's just a symptom of size, but Empire's coverage of e-commerce and how it's radically altered consumerism in the 21st century feels relatively skimpy; his assertions that "the internet has added a new layer, not created a revolutionary break" and "new technologies don't automatically replace existing patterns of use" don't carry as much conviction as the rest of the book.'
in short: insightful, densely researched, comprehensive, possibly one of the most ambitious books out there on consumption; worth the read
jacob_wren's review against another edition
So far it feels like reading a 700 page advertisement for consumer capitalism.
pagesandsounds's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
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