Consumers Against Capitalism? : Consumer Cooperation in Europe, North America, and Japan, 1840D1990

The "consumer society" has developed over the last 200 years and the contributors to this text explore consumer co-operation on a comparative, international level. Historians trace the history of the consumer co-operatives in Europe and North America from its inception to the present.

There is a growing scholarly interest in the historical development of what has been called a ''consumer society.'' In this important collection of essays, historians from six different countries trace the history of the consumer cooperative movement in much of western Europe and North America from its inception to the present. The consumer cooperative, as the contributors show, bears directly on the role of socialist parties, the nascent feminist movement, and conceptions of the worker''s role in a changing economy and society in the 19th and 20th centuries. The first book to explore consumer cooperation on a comparative, international level, Consumers Against Capitalism fills a significant gap in the literature of labor history. It also makes a significant contribution to the literature on consumerism and capitalist culture. It is essential reading for students and scholars of labor history, women''s history, and social movements.