Consuming Places

by JOHN Urry

Overview

John Urry has been discussing and writing on these and similar questions for the past fifteen years. In Consuming Places, he gathers together his most significant contributions. Urry begins with an extensive review of the connections between society, time and space. The concept of 'society', the nature of 'locality', the significance of 'economic restructuring', and the concept of the 'rural', are examined in relationship to place. The book then considers how places have been transformed by the development of service occupations and industries. Concepts of the service class and post-industrialism are theoretically and empirically discussed. Attention is then devoted to the ways in which places are consumed. Particular attention is devoted to the visual character of such consumption and its implications for place and people. The implications for nature and the environment are also explored in depth. The changing nature of consumption, and the tensions between commodification and collective enthusiasms, are explored in the context of the changing ways in which the countryside is consumed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134829675
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/11/2002
Series:	International Library of Sociology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John Urry is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University, UK, where he is Director of the Centre for Mobilities Research. His recent books include Sociology Beyond Societies (Routledge, 2000), Global Complexity (Polity, 2003), Mobile Technologies of the City (with Mimi Sheller, Routledge, 2006) and Mobilities (Polity, 2007).

Table of Contents

1. Time and Space in the Consumptino of Place Part 1: Society and Space 2. Sociology as a Parasite: Some Vices and Virtues 3. The New Marxism of Collective Action: A Critical Analysis 4. Society, Space and Locality Part 2: Restructuring and Services 5. Restructuring the Rural 6. Capitalist Production, Scientific Management and the Service Class 7. Is Britain the First 'Post-Industrial Society'? Part 3: Consumption, Place and Identity 8. The Consumption of Tourism 9. Tourism, Travel and the Modern Subject 10. Reinterpreting Local Culture 11. Tourism, Europe and Identity Part 4: Consuming Nature 12. The Tourist Gaze and the Environment 13. The Making of the Lake District 14. Social Identity, Leisure and the Countryside