"Through in-depth analysis of advertisements, politics and group-based practices, this book analyses the complex local, regional, and national historical developments related to the making of the Indian consumer across a century of global involvement. Inassessing the nationalist discourse, debates on the morality of consumption and public and private spheres, the book demonstrates how the Indian consumer was both imagined and informed and how the politics of consumption formed the consumer society in India. The book explores detailed studies outlining how Indian consumers were created as a result of the emergence of marketing campaigns and advertising strategies for everyday commodities in the early 19th century. Chapters by experts in their fields cover themes ranging from forms of advertising and their perception to coffee, oil, housing and idealized middle-class homemaking to current policies targeting the urban poor as consumer debtors. The book provides rich examples of processes, histories and practices at play in the making of a consumer society. In view of the classical and contemporary theories of consumption, the book collectively analyzes the development of consumer capitalism aided by the 'technologies of enchantment'. Shedding new light on consumer cultures in India, the book will be of interest to academics from interdisciplinary fields such as anthropology, history, geography, sociology, South Asian studies and area studies, popular and visual cultures"--
This book brings together historical and ethnographic perspectives on Indian consumer identities.
This book brings together historical and ethnographic perspectives on Indian consumer identities.
Through an in-depth analysis of local, regional, and national histories of marketing, regulatory bodies, public and domestic practices, this interdisciplinary volume charts the emergence of Indian consumer society and shows commodity consumption as a main feature of Indian modernity.
Starting with the morality of consumption patterns formed part of nationalist discourses feeding into middle-class identity, the chapters demonstrate how different strata of society were targeted as markets for everyday commodities associated with global lifestyles early on. The book hones in on how a new group of professionals engaged in advertising shaped tastes and discourses and how campaigns provided a range of consumers with guidance on ‘modern lifestyles’. Chapters discussing advertisements, for consumables like coffee and cooking oil, show these to be part of new public cultures. The ethnographic chapters focus on contemporary practices and consumption as a main marker of class, caste and community. Consumption is shown to reshape intimate relationships and determine communal identities. The chapters explore the middle-class family, micro-credit schemes, and metropolitan youth cultures as sites in which consumer citizenship is realised.
The book will be of interest to readers from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, history, geography, sociology, South Asian studies, and visual cultures.
