The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment

The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment Review

Winner of the 2009 Gerald L. Young Book Award in Human Ecology given by the Society for Human Ecology.

The Shadows of Consumption gives a hard-hitting diagnosis: many of the earth's ecosystems and billions of its people are at risk from the consequences of rising consumption. Products ranging from cars to hamburgers offer conveniences and pleasures; but, as Peter Dauvergne makes clear, global political and economic processes displace the real costs of consumer goods into distant ecosystems, communities, and timelines, tipping into crisis people and places without the power to resist.

In The Shadows of Consumption, Peter Dauvergne maps the costs of consumption that remain hidden in the shadows cast by globalized corporations, trade, and finance. He traces the environmental consequences of five commodities: automobiles, gasoline, refrigerators, beef, and harp seals. In these fascinating histories we learn, for example, that American officials ignored warnings about the dangers of lead in gasoline in the 1920s; why China is now a leading producer of CFC-free refrigerators; and how activists were able to stop Canada's commercial seal hunt in the 1980s (but are unable to do so now).

Dauvergne's innovative analysis allows us to see why so many efforts to manage the global environment are failing even as environmentalism is slowly strengthening. He proposes a guiding principle of "balanced consumption" for both consumers and corporations. We know that we can make things better by driving a fuel-efficient car, eating locally grown food, and buying energy-efficient appliances; but these improvements are incremental, local, and insufficient. More crucial than our individual efforts to reuse and recycle will be reforms in the global political economy to reduce the inequalities of consumption and correct the imbalance between growing economies and environmental sustainability.

The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio

The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio Review

The average American listens to the radio three hours a day. In light of recent technological developments such as internet radio, some argue that the medium is facing a crisis, while others claim we are at the dawn of a new radio revolution. The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio is an essential single-volume reference guide to this vital and evolving medium. It brings together the best and most important entries from the three-volume Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Radio, edited by Christopher Sterling.

Comprised of more than 300 entries spanning the invention of radio to the Internet, The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio addresses personalities, music genres, regulations, technology, programming and stations, the "golden age" of radio and other topics relating to radio broadcasting throughout its history. The entries are updated throughout and the volume includes nine new entries on topics ranging from podcasting to the decline of radio. The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio include suggestions for further reading as complements to most of the articles, biographical details for all person-entries, production credits for programs, and a comprehensive index.

Guide to Collecting Cookbooks

Guide to Collecting Cookbooks Review

A well-researched guide for cookbook collectors, loaded with histories, dates, sizes, and values. Hundreds of examples of cookbooks and booklets from many years are photographed in full color and black and white. 2002 values. AUTHORBIO: Bob Allen has been a lifetime collector of cookbooks, anda longstanding active member of the Cookbook Collectors Club of America for many years. His book, A Guide to Collecting Cookbooks, has seen many updated reprintings. His book includes six different collections and years of research. REVIEW: This reference guide contains thousands of listings and values for every type of cookbook imaginable, and includes biographies on culinary experts, color photographs, and chapters on the most popular cookbooks.

Bungalow Kitchens

Bungalow Kitchens Review

Filled with handsome photographs of retro-style kitchens, this is a "what to" book for those who want to learn how to restore or re-create a bungalow-era kitchen. It is filled with invaluable information describing what was in these kitchens, when it was available, and how it went together. You will be inspired to re-create the Bungalow aesthetic of old while enjoying contemporary conveniences. (20000101)

Envy of the World: A History of the US Economy and Big Business

Envy of the World: A History of the US Economy and Big Business Review

Envy of the World is a history of the rise and development of the American economy and Big Business over four centuries and how the individual and collective actions of Americans, native born and foreign, came to create the .6 trillion economy of today. Although the building American juggernaut was blessed above other nations with all manner of natural resources, the inventiveness and drive of the American people made the most of what Providence had bestowed. Steadily, then more swiftly, the foundation was laid for success. More intimate knowledge of economic reality and theory in the 20th century led ultimately to the world's greatest economy of today. At time of this writing in 2006, following a presidential election campaign characterized by harsh criticism of special moneyed interests and foreign outsourcing of labor, many Americans have taken a dim view of Big Business and the federal government's management of the economy. This book does not shrink from pointing out episodes of corporate greed and malfeasance as well as mistakes by Washington both in the recent and distant past. However, the impression is epidemic among the populace that the advances and conveniences of a modern society are the God-given right of Americans. In point of fact, the cornucopia of excellence that exists in food and household products, clothing and consumer durables, housing and motor vehicle transportation, health care and high tech industry, and other goods and services, would not be available to the majority of citizens but for the ambition, effort, and, yes, self-interest of entrepreneurs who founded, grew, and consolidated private enterprise companies. Further, the sometimes contradictory efforts by government officials to balance the interests of corporations, societal groups, and individuals have created by-and-large a most beneficial atmosphere for economic endeavor. The book provides periodic quantitative summation of gross domestic product, population, employment, company results, and other statistics, particularly in later chapters. Because the author's philosophy is that a picture and a thousand words are better than either one alone, he has made extensive use of original charts and graphs, illustrations, industry genealogies, and maps. ***

Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising

Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising Review

SOAP, SEX AND CIGARETTES examines how American advertising both mirrors society and creates it. From the first newspaper advertisement in colonial times to today's online viral advertising, the text explores how advertising grew in America, how products and brands were produced and promoted, and how advertisements and agencies reflect and introduce cultural trends and issues. The threads of art, industry, culture, and technology unify the work. The text is chronological in its organization and is lavishly illustrated with advertisements.

Measured Excess

Measured Excess Review

This insightful analysis of the ways in which South Korean economic development strategies have reshaped the country's national identity gives specific attention to the manner in which women, as the primary agents of consumption, have been affected by this transformation. Past scholarship on the culture of nationalism has largely focused on the ways in which institutions utilize memory and "history" to construct national identity. In a provocative departure, Laura C. Nelson challenges these assumptions with regard to South Korea, arguing that its identity has been as much tied to notions of the future as rooted in a recollection of the past.

Following a backlash against consumerism in the late 1980s, the government spearheaded a program of frugality that eschewed imported goods and foreign travel in order to strengthen South Korea's national identity. Consumption -- with its focus on immediate gratification -- threatened the state's future-oriented discourse of national unity. In response to this perceived danger, Nelson asserts, the government cast women as the group whose "excessive desires" for material goods were endangering the nation.

Ad Women: How They Impact What We Need, Want, and Buy

Ad Women: How They Impact What We Need, Want, and Buy Review

Most of the workers in advertising, the media, retail, and fashion are women. Holding key marketing and advertising positions, women shape the basic promotional appeal of almost every consumer product in America. How did the advertising business go from a handful of women in a man's world to women working in virtually every mass consumer goods industry in America in the space of the twentieth century? This book tells the story of how women have risen to the top of the advertising profession. Juliann Sivulka, a former marketing communications manager and now an advertising educator, describes how, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the recognition of women as primary consumers resulted in the hiring of more women to promote products aimed at the women's market. At that time manufacturers began to emphasise colour, fashion, and style, while advertising embraced a new language of persuasion aimed at women consumers.Soon agencies were recruiting an ensemble of businesswomen - copywriters, product designers, merchandisers, fashion and beauty experts, home economists, editors, and publicists. Through close collaboration with manufacturers, mass media, and retailers, they participated in developing strategies to convince women to buy goods and wove their selling messages into women's reading, shopping, housework, and leisure activities. Sivulka follows three key periods in the history of American advertising, which represent eras of major social change for women (1880-1920, the 1920s, and the 1970s).She discusses the effect on advertising of such controversial issues as the women's movement, minorities, and consumer activism, and devotes an entire chapter to the contributions to advertising of African American, Hispanic, and Asian American women in the twentieth century. Copiously illustrated with portraits of early ad women and examples of their work, this thoroughly researched and engagingly written survey of women in advertising will fascinate marketing students, women's studies scholars, and everyday consumers.

The Old-Time Brand-Name Cookbook: Recipes, Illustrations, and Advice from the Early Kitchens of America's Most Trusted Food Makers (Abradale Books)

The Old-Time Brand-Name Cookbook: Recipes, Illustrations, and Advice from the Early Kitchens of America's Most Trusted Food Makers (Abradale Books) Review

For years, Bunny Crumpacker has been collecting recipe pamphlets by such classic American food companies as Carnation, Hershey's, and Gold Medal Flour. With dishes ranging from Bubbly Cinnamon Toast to Frank Sinatra's Mother's Spaghetti and Meatballs, this delightful, nostalgia-rich collection harkens back to an era when families at all their meals together and homely comfort food reigned supreme.

AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War

AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War Review

AC/DC tells the little-known story of how Thomas Edison wrongly bet in the fierce war between supporters of alternating current and direct current. The savagery of this electrical battle can hardly be imagined today. The showdown between AC and DC began as a rather straightforward conflict between technical standards, a battle of competing methods to deliver essentially the same product, electricity. But the skirmish soon metastasized into something bigger and darker. In the AC/DC battle, the worst aspects of human nature somehow got caught up in the wires; a silent, deadly flow of arrogance, vanity, and cruelty. Following the path of least resistance, the war of currents soon settled around that most primal of human emotions: fear. AC/DC serves as an object lesson in bad business strategy and poor decision making. Edison's inability to see his mistake was a key factor in his loss of control over the ?operating system? for his future inventions?not to mention the company he founded, General Electric.

Ad Women: How They Impact What We Need, Want, and Buy

Ad Women: How They Impact What We Need, Want, and Buy Review

Most of the workers in advertising, the media, retail, and fashion are women. Holding key marketing and advertising positions, women shape the basic promotional appeal of almost every consumer product in America. How did the advertising business go from a handful of women in a man's world to women working in virtually every mass consumer goods industry in America in the space of the twentieth century? This book tells the story of how women have risen to the top of the advertising profession. Juliann Sivulka, a former marketing communications manager and now an advertising educator, describes how, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the recognition of women as primary consumers resulted in the hiring of more women to promote products aimed at the women's market. At that time manufacturers began to emphasise colour, fashion, and style, while advertising embraced a new language of persuasion aimed at women consumers.Soon agencies were recruiting an ensemble of businesswomen - copywriters, product designers, merchandisers, fashion and beauty experts, home economists, editors, and publicists. Through close collaboration with manufacturers, mass media, and retailers, they participated in developing strategies to convince women to buy goods and wove their selling messages into women's reading, shopping, housework, and leisure activities. Sivulka follows three key periods in the history of American advertising, which represent eras of major social change for women (1880-1920, the 1920s, and the 1970s).She discusses the effect on advertising of such controversial issues as the women's movement, minorities, and consumer activism, and devotes an entire chapter to the contributions to advertising of African American, Hispanic, and Asian American women in the twentieth century. Copiously illustrated with portraits of early ad women and examples of their work, this thoroughly researched and engagingly written survey of women in advertising will fascinate marketing students, women's studies scholars, and everyday consumers.

AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War

AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War Review

AC/DC tells the little-known story of how Thomas Edison wrongly bet in the fierce war between supporters of alternating current and direct current. The savagery of this electrical battle can hardly be imagined today. The showdown between AC and DC began as a rather straightforward conflict between technical standards, a battle of competing methods to deliver essentially the same product, electricity. But the skirmish soon metastasized into something bigger and darker. In the AC/DC battle, the worst aspects of human nature somehow got caught up in the wires; a silent, deadly flow of arrogance, vanity, and cruelty. Following the path of least resistance, the war of currents soon settled around that most primal of human emotions: fear. AC/DC serves as an object lesson in bad business strategy and poor decision making. Edison's inability to see his mistake was a key factor in his loss of control over the ?operating system? for his future inventions?not to mention the company he founded, General Electric.