CONSUMER SOCIETY, THE

Now available in English, Baudrillard's classic text was one of the first to focus on the process and meaning of consumption in contemporary culture. The Consumer Society makes a vital contribution to current debates on consumption as Baudrillard demonstrates that consumption is the axis of culture. Many of the themes which would make Baudrillard famous appear here for the first time. In particular, his concepts of simulation and the simulacrum receive their first systematic treatment. The book includes Baudrillard's most organized discussion of mass media culture, and the meaning of leisure and anomie in affluent society. A chapter on the body demonstrates Baudrillard's extraordinary prescience for flagging vital subjects in contemporary culture long before others. This English translation includes a preface by George Ritzer, author of The McDonaldization of Society.