Search Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »
My library | Help | Advanced Book Search | Web History | Sign in

Books

Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience:

The Social Organization of Normality
Front Cover
2 Reviews
Bloomsbury Academic, 2003 - Social Science - 221 pages
Over the past few generations, expectations of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have altered radically, but these dramatic changes have largely gone unnoticed. This intriguing book brings together the sociology of consumption and technology to investigate the evolution of these changes, as well the social meaning of the practices themselves.

Homes, offices, domestic appliances and clothes play a crucial role in our lives, but not many of us question exactly how and why we perform so many daily rituals associated with them. Showers, heating, air-conditioning and clothes washing are simply accepted as part of our normal, everyday lives, but clearly this was not always the case. When did the ‘daily shower’ become de rigueur? What effect has air conditioning had on the siesta – at one time an integral part of Mediterranean life and culture?

This book interrogates the meaning and supposed ‘normality’ of these practices and draws disturbing conclusions. There is clear evidence supporting the view that routine consumption is controlled by conceptions of normality and profoundly shaped by cultural and economic forces. Shove maintains that habits are not just changing, but are changing in ways that imply escalating and standardizing patterns of consumption. This shrewd and engrossing analysis shows just how far the social meanings and practices of comfort, cleanliness and convenience have eluded us.

What people are saying - Write a review

Review: Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality

User Review  - Nana - Goodreads

A sociological version of energy consumption; not about alternative energy sources but energy consumption patterns. Great book to offer alternative insight into other aspects of energy, critical of ... Read full review

Related books

The Design of Everyday Life
The Design of Everyday Life
Elizabeth Shove
No preview available - 2007
Infrastructures of Consumption: Environmental Innovation in the Utility ...
Infrastructures of Consumption: Environmental Innovation in the Utility ...
Bas Van Vliet,Heather Chappells,Elizabeth Shove
Limited preview - 2005
It's About Time: Better Health Care in a Minute
It's About Time: Better Health Care in a Minute
Healthwise, Inc. Staff,Donald W. Kemper
Limited preview - 1993
All related books »

Other editions - View all

Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the social organization of normality
Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the social organization of normality
Elizabeth Shove
Snippet view - 2003
Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the social organization of normality
Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the social organization of normality
Elizabeth Shove
Snippet view - 2003

References to this book

From other books

Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics
Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics
Roberta Sassatelli
Limited preview - 2007
Living with things: ridding, accommodation, dwelling
Living with things: ridding, accommodation, dwelling
Nicky Gregson
Snippet view - 2007
All Book Search results »

From Google Scholar

Policies for Sustainable Consumption
Tim Jackson, Laurie Michaelis
Environmental Impacts of Products: A Detailed Review of Studies
Arnold Tukker, Bart Jansen - 2006 - Journal of Industrial Ecology
Live Better by Consuming Less?: Is There a ℌDouble Dividend” in ...
Tim Jackson - 2005 - Journal of Industrial Ecology
Motivating Sustainable Consumption
Tim Jackson, GUILDFORD Surrey
All Scholar search results »

References from web pages

Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of ...
Read the complete book Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality by becoming a questia.com member. Choose a membership plan ...
www.questia.com/ library/ book/ comfort-cleanliness-and-convenience-the-social-organization-of-normality-by-elizabeth-s...

Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience
Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience The Social Organization of Normality Elizabeth Shove. Over the past few generations, expectations of comfort, ...
www.bergpublishers.com/ Default.aspx?TabId=1097& currentreview=1

ingentaconnect Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and ...
Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience. Author: Shove E.1. Source: Journal of Consumer Policy, Volume 26, Number 4, 200312 , pp. ...
www.ingentaconnect.com/ content/ klu/ copo/ 2003/ 00000026/ 00000004/ 05144887;jsessionid=gncgccmaaieal.alice?format=print

Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience
ABSTRACT. Many commentators analyse green consumption as if it were an expres-. sion of individual environmental commitment. Such approaches suppose that ...
www.springerlink.com/ index/ W135L3J37M925210.pdf

econpapers: E. Shove, Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the ...
E. Shove, Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: the social organization of normality, Berg Publishers, Oxford and New York (2003) ISBN 1859736300 224 pp ...
econpapers.repec.org/ article/ eeeecolec/ v_3A53_3Ay_3A2005_3Ai_3A1_3Ap_3A144-145.htm

Comfort, Cleanliness And Convenience - Boek - BESLIST.nl
Bekijk en vergelijk informatie, beoordelingen, vragen & antwoorden en de beste winkels voor 'Comfort, Cleanliness And Convenience' op BESLIST.nl ▪ Boeken ...
boeken_engels.beslist.nl/ boeken_engels/ d0001156999/ Comfort__Cleanliness_And_Convenience.html

BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed - 10 July 2002
Information about the Radio 4 factual topical discussion programme Thinking Allowed
www.bbc.co.uk/ radio4/ factual/ thinkingallowed_20020710.shtml

【楽天市場】Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social ...
タイトル：Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality：COMFORT CLEANLINESS & CONVENIE(New Technologies/New Cultures ...
item.rakuten.co.jp/ book/ 5069397/

Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of ...
SA15-312, Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality.(文景書局). ISBN: 9781859736302 Year: 2003 Price: ￡ 15.99 Ref: ...
www.unifacmanu.com.tw/ prdlist.asp?isbn=9781859736302& cate=isbnsrch& bookname=Comfort,%20Cleanliness%20and%20Convenien...

220014 634..645
Obesity,convenienceand“phood”. Jane M. Dixon, Sarah J. Hinde and Cathy L. Banwell. National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ...
www.emeraldinsight.com/ Insight/ ViewContentServlet?Filename=/ published/ emeraldfulltextarticle/ pdf/ 0701080803.pdf

About the author (2003)

Elizabeth Shove is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, at Lancaster University.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience
TitleComfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality
New Technologies / New Cultures
New technologies/new cultures series, ISSN 1472-2895
AuthorElizabeth Shove
Editionillustrated
PublisherBloomsbury Academic, 2003
ISBN1859736300, 9781859736302
Length221 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural
Social Science / General
Social Science / Social Work
Social Science / Sociology / General
Technology & Engineering / Social Aspects
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan