Luxury and Consumption
Abstract Scholars identify the mid-eighteenth century as the turning point in the “consumer revolution” that transformed engagement with, marketing of, and behavior regarding consumer goods while triggering equally major sociocultural, economic, and political changes. This chapter focuses on consump...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2024
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197622605.013.38 https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/57923/chapter/475508058 |
| Summary: | Abstract Scholars identify the mid-eighteenth century as the turning point in the “consumer revolution” that transformed engagement with, marketing of, and behavior regarding consumer goods while triggering equally major sociocultural, economic, and political changes. This chapter focuses on consumption of novel imported foodstuffs and manufactures in Britain, France, the Dutch Republic, their colonies, and their North American and Atlantic African trading partners. It argues that the Seven Years’ War had minimal and transitory effects on the decades-old upward trajectory of provision of and demand for consumer goods. In contrast, wartime and postwar politico-economic reforms, entry of new producers, and fresh investment accelerated supply and uptake, particularly in areas outside Northwestern Europe and North America. Within that North Atlantic consumer revolution core, postwar economic and political developments laid the groundwork for the Industrial, American, and French revolutions. |
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