Watkins, Heidi. Consumer Culture.

Watkins, Heidi.           Consumer Culture.   

Greenhaven Press see Gale/Cengage         2011   104p29.49     978-0-7377-5206-9

hs                    Issues That Concern You(Gale)       VG       ╥Contains ten essays

that provide varying perspectives on consumer culture, discussing whether

consumer culture is harmful to society, teen spending habits, how high

socioeconomic status can cause depression, overconsumption, and related topics,

and including essays by Howard Bloom, Peter Dodson, Jean Kilbourne, and others.╙

            Geared toward high school students, this title on consumer culture will

help students begin to understand why learning about this topic is complicated. 

Ten articles are presented with multiple viewpoints and each references a

particular article featured in a printed, respected journal.   To introduce

students to the topic of consumer culture, the author explains the term

╥freegan╙, where people who practice this lifestyle choose do so for reasons

such as being consumer conscious and that they do not want to waste, while

others need to do so for financial reasons.  The ten articles feature topics

such as: how consumer culture harms society, children and teens and how it also

benefits society; teen spending habits; rejecting consumerism is beneficial and

also how it is not realistic; high socioeconomic status causes depression; how

both advertising and human instinct is to blame for overconsumption; and how

American consumers are becoming more careful spenders.  The author presents

interesting facts about consumer culture and what we should do about consumer

culture.  Various organizations can assist with consumer culture and the editors

have included a list and a description about the organization.

Includes color photographs, charts, and cartoons within the presented articles. 

A comprehensive bibliography and index are also included for readers to locate

information quickly.              Each title in this series offers a diversity of opinion

on the topic presented, including both conservative and liberal points of view

in an even balance. Articles contain color photos, charts, graphs, tables, and

"self-help.╙  Topics vary and the set has 69 different titles.   Forba-Mayer, Charleen