Subverting Consumerism

Reuse in an Accelerated World

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book Subverting Consumerism by , Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9781317281139
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: July 24, 2018
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9781317281139
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: July 24, 2018
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

There is now a widespread interest in reuse in many domains, from opera houses built over old warehouses, to vintage clothes and everyday goods incorporating repurposed materials or parts. Despite its ubiquity, this extensive creative work is typically seen in narrowly environmental terms, as a means of reducing carbon, resource use or waste. However, as this volume shows, reuse also has aesthetic and cultural dimensions and a rich social currency, invoked to consciously subvert the accelerated consumer culture responsible for our unfolding environmental crisis.

In three parts, the essays in this book consider reuse in terms of values, aesthetics and meaning, its application in contemporary urban and spatial settings, and the revival of social practices involving a more conscious recourse to reuse and repair. These are bookended by the editors' essays: the first, on the significant relationship between reuse and technological and social acceleration evident in the surrounding consumer society; and the last, on the multiple forms of reuse deployed in a contemporary alternative building practice, and their contributions to presenting alternative ways of living in the world.

Challenging dominant understandings of ‘waste’ and ‘consumption’, Subverting Consumerism shows how reuse has become a means for many to creatively engage with the past, and to discover a continuity and sense of place eroded by the accelerative regimes of contemporary consumerism. Becoming a means of resistance, and offering a range of aesthetic, social and economic possibilities, reuse can be found to subvert and challenge the obsessive quest for the new found in contemporary consumerism.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

There is now a widespread interest in reuse in many domains, from opera houses built over old warehouses, to vintage clothes and everyday goods incorporating repurposed materials or parts. Despite its ubiquity, this extensive creative work is typically seen in narrowly environmental terms, as a means of reducing carbon, resource use or waste. However, as this volume shows, reuse also has aesthetic and cultural dimensions and a rich social currency, invoked to consciously subvert the accelerated consumer culture responsible for our unfolding environmental crisis.

In three parts, the essays in this book consider reuse in terms of values, aesthetics and meaning, its application in contemporary urban and spatial settings, and the revival of social practices involving a more conscious recourse to reuse and repair. These are bookended by the editors' essays: the first, on the significant relationship between reuse and technological and social acceleration evident in the surrounding consumer society; and the last, on the multiple forms of reuse deployed in a contemporary alternative building practice, and their contributions to presenting alternative ways of living in the world.

Challenging dominant understandings of ‘waste’ and ‘consumption’, Subverting Consumerism shows how reuse has become a means for many to creatively engage with the past, and to discover a continuity and sense of place eroded by the accelerative regimes of contemporary consumerism. Becoming a means of resistance, and offering a range of aesthetic, social and economic possibilities, reuse can be found to subvert and challenge the obsessive quest for the new found in contemporary consumerism.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The Art of Building: International Ideas, Dutch Debate 1840-1900 by
Cover of the book Federal Antitrust and EC Competition Law Analysis by
Cover of the book Creating and Implementing Public Policy by
Cover of the book The Christian Therapist's Notebook by
Cover of the book The PISA Effect on Global Educational Governance by
Cover of the book Dictionary of Probation and Offender Management by
Cover of the book Rethinking Feminism in Early Modern Studies by
Cover of the book Cities and Suburbs by
Cover of the book Visualization in the Age of Computerization by
Cover of the book Behavioral Integrative Care by
Cover of the book Mary Magdalene in Medieval Culture by
Cover of the book Routledge History of International Organizations by
Cover of the book Applied Climatology by
Cover of the book The New Economic History of the Railways (Routledge Revivals) by
Cover of the book Femme/Butch by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy