Devising Consumption: cultural economies of insurance, credit and spending

Devising Consumption explores the vital role played by thefinancial service industries in enabling the poor to consumeover the last hundred and fifty years. Spending requiresmeans, but these industries also offered practical marketingdevices that captured, captivated and enticed poorconsumers. The role of these devices has been poorlyunderstood both in the social sciences and in businessstudies and marketing. The book advances the case for a morepragmatic understanding of how ordinary, dull, everydayconsumption is arranged, and offers an alternative toorthodox approaches.