A Cultural History of Shopping in the Age of Revolution and Empire

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A Cultural History of Shopping in the Age of Revolution and Empire is written by Erika Diane Rappaport and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 1350027006 (ISBN 10) and 9781350027008 (ISBN 13).

Shopping emerged as a special pleasure and problem during the period between the revolutionary upheavals of the late eighteenth century and the opening salvoes of the Great War. New shops, new products, new class and gender ideologies, new standards of comfort and hygiene, and rising living standards for some meant that people, especially women, spent more time shopping and engaging in consumer-oriented activities beyond the walls of the shop. At the same time, social commentators, local and national authorities, economists and many husbands became concerned about the 'dangers' of shopping, believing that the department store was emancipating women and destroying society in the process. This volume explores shopping in the nineteenth century as a varied and embedded social, political, economic and cultural activity. It draws out the continuities with earlier periods as well as examining how the department store came to be seen as both symbol and generator of profound economic, social and cultural change. A Cultural History of Shopping in the Age of Revolution and Empire presents an overview of the period with themes addressing practices and processes; spaces and places; shoppers and identities; luxury and everyday; home and family; visual and literary representations; reputation, trust and credit; and governance, regulation and the state. Book jacket.