Consuming Places

Front Cover
Psychology Press, 1995 - Business & Economics - 257 pages
John Urry's "Consuming Places," discusses what Urry terms the "makings of place"--that is, distinctive features of different places which make them either attractive or repellant to consumers, whether visitors or investors. Urry also explores the effects of consumption on these places and their respective local populations. Urry has been discussing and writing on these and similar issues 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, and examines such themes as locality, ruralism, and economic restructuring in relationship to place. The text considers how the development of service occupations and industries have transformed places through the emergence of a post-industrial service class. Urry then directs our attention to the nature of consumption in terms of its implications for place and people, citing natural and environmental concerns and the tensions between commodification and collective enthusiasms. This wide-ranging book will prove indispensable for enthusiasts of geography, sociology, and urban, regional and cultural studies.
 

Contents

SOME VICES AND VIRTUES
33
SOCIETY SPACE AND LOCALITY
63
RESTRUCTURING THE RURAL
77
CAPITALIST PRODUCTION SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
90
IS BRITAIN THE FIRST POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY?
112
THE CONSUMPTION OF TOURISM
129
TOURISM TRAVEL AND THE MODERN SUBJECT
141
REINTERPRETING LOCAL CULTURE
152
TOURISM EUROPE AND IDENTITY
163
THE TOURIST GAZE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
173
THE MAKING OF THE LAKE DISTRICT
193
SOCIAL IDENTITY LEISURE AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
211
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About the author (1995)

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).