An edition of Consumption and identity at work (1995)

Consumption and identity at work

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Last edited by MARC Bot
December 5, 2025 | History
An edition of Consumption and identity at work (1995)

Consumption and identity at work

The realms of consumption have typically been seen to be distinct from those of work and production. This book examines how contemporary rhetorics and discourses of organizational change are breaking down such distinctions - with significant implications for the construction of subjectivities and identities at work. In particular, Paul du Gay shows how the capacities and predispositions required of consumers and those required of employees are increasingly difficult to distinguish. Both consumers and employees are represented as autonomous, responsible, calculating individuals. They are constituted as such in the language of consumer cultures and the all-pervasive discourses of enterprise whereby persons are required to be entrepreneurs of the self, at work, at play and in all aspects of their lives. The first part of the book explores certain limitations in traditional approaches to the analysis of work identity. It presents an alternative, discursive framework in which to address contemporary 're-imaginings' of organizational life within the 'cult(ure)' of the consumer. Part Two develops the analysis by looking at an arena where the blurring of the boundaries between work and consumption identities is most pronounced - retailing. The author builds a sophisticated picture of how discourses of reform take hold in particular contexts, how they construct particular subject positions for employees to occupy, and how employees negotiate these identities in their everyday working lives. He concludes by considering the ethical and other issues of 'setting limits to enterprise'

Publish Date
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Language
English
Pages
213

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Edition Availability
Cover of: Consumption and identity at work
Consumption and identity at work
1996, SAGE Publications
in English
Cover of: Consumption and Identity at Work
Consumption and Identity at Work
1995, SAGE Publications, Incorporated
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. [196]-204) and index.

Published in
London, Thousand Oaks, Calif

Classifications

Library of Congress
HC79.C6 D8 1996, HC79.C6D8 1996

The Physical Object

Pagination
213 p. ;
Number of pages
213

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL820380M
ISBN 10
0803979274, 0803979282
LCCN
95072173
OCLC/WorldCat
34548906
LibraryThing
3539274

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL2999522W

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December 5, 2025 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
August 3, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
June 13, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
December 4, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Added subjects from MARC records.
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page