1999/06/01 by SARA PENNELL, Susan Pennell · 64 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Aesthetics #Ancient history #Art #Consumerism #Consumption (sociology) #Early modern period #Economics #Historical Economic and Social Studies #History #Indulgence #Law #Market economy #Period (music) #Political science #Social science #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1017/s0018246x99008559
published in The Historical Journal 42(2), 549-564 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 1999/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Consumption studies have arguably transformed the study of early modern cultural history in the past three decades, with the championing of previously neglected sources, application of interdisciplinary approaches, and exploration of the mentalities of acquisition, ownership, and use. But does the accumulation of writing about consuming and consumption in this period amount to much more than the historical equivalent of window-shopping? It is argued here that greater attention to the consumers as much as the consumed, to the motivations for consuming rather than the act of consumption alone, offers a way out of the explanatory cul-de-sac reached by over-indulgence in the early modern ‘world of goods’.