Jenny Shaw 
Shopping 

We spend more time shopping than doing anything else, after sleep
and work. So why is it not taken more seriously? The answer: we
take shopping for granted. Indeed, culture can only
‘work’ by being taken for granted. This paradox –
that what is most familiar, like shopping, is also the hardest to
‘see’ analytically – provides the starting point
for this compelling examination of the many dimensions of the
shopping experience.



Shopping enables readers to realize the significance of
their shopping memories and milestones, how the rhythm of the day
or week revolves as much around shop opening hours as working hours
or bus times, and why Mayor Giuliani was right after 9/11 to tell
Americans to keep on shopping. From an exciting cultural
perspective, Jenny Shaw explores how shopping is viewed, the
history behind its ‘fall from grace’, its part in the
common culture, its role in helping us craft new identities, hold
on to old ones, adjust to change, and generally ‘hold us
together’ both as individuals and communities.

Students of sociology, anthropology, social psychology, media
and business studies interested in culture and the everyday world
will be gripped by this engaging and accessible guide to the
meaning behind what the ordinary shopper actually does and why
shopping remains so popular despite social and cultural
changes.

Table of Content

Chapter 1 Shopping in the Rain
Chapter 2 From Thrift to Spendthrift: How Buying Turned Into Spending
Chapter 3 A la Recherche des Shops Perdus
Chapter 4 Signposts and Shopping Milestones: Too Old For Topshop?
Chapter 5 Shopping: A Rough Guide to Gender
Chapter 6 Putting on a Posh Voice
Chapter 7 Conclusion: Taking it all For Granted
Bibliography

About the author

Jenny Shaw, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Sussex