The Legacy of Luxury

Moralities of Consumption Since the 18th Century

Bibliographic Data

ID8087692
AuthorsMatthew Hilton (0000-0002-6792-2208, University of Birmingham, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume4
Issue1
Pages101-123
Publication date2004-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Consumer Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1469-5405 • E-ISSN: 1741-2900
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1469540504040906
OpenAlexW1999382726
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited37

This article argues that the luxury debates of the 18th century left a legacy for discussions of consumption up to the present day. First, the vices and virtues of moral discourse became the use and abuse, productive and unproductive, of 19th-century liberalism; second, in the early 20th century, these dichotomies were applied to the new mass market, as cheap standardized goods were alleged to destroy the liberal individuality of the consumer; third, in the late 20th century, economics, politics and even the modern consumer movement have seemingly abstracted consumption from such moral categories, leaving only a morality of reaction as specific goods are seen to infringe societal norms. However, in recent years, consumption has become increasingly remoralized, posing important challenges for the academic and critical discussion of ethics and current consumer society

Advertising · Business · Consumer Culture · Consumption (sociology · Dichotomy · Economics · Environmental ethics · Gilded Age · Liberalism · Morality · Neoclassical economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Veblen good · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory

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