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Dedication
This book is dedicated to:
Bren
Evie
Gracie
Joe
Lou
Rob
Sam
Teddy
Commodification and Its Discontents
Nicholas Abercrombie
polity
Copyright page
Copyright © Nicholas Abercrombie 2020
The right of Nicholas Abercrombie to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2020 by Polity Press
Polity Press
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Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
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Medford, MA 02155, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2981-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-2982-7 (pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abercrombie, Nicholas, author.
Title: Commodification and its discontents / Nicholas Abercrombie.
Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Should anything and everything be bought and sold?”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020012847 (print) | LCCN 2020012848 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509529810 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509529827 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509529834 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781509529841 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Economics--Moral and ethical aspects. | Economics--Sociological aspects. | Value. | Commodification. | Capitalism.
Classification: LCC HB72 .A24 2020 (print) | LCC HB72 (ebook) | DDC 174/.4--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012847
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012848
Typeset in 10.5 on 12pt Plantin MT
by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
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Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
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Acknowledgements
I have spent a long time wondering about writing this book and, as a result, I have accumulated a large number of intellectual debts. For much of that time, over three decades, I was a member of the Lancaster University Sociology Department. From its beginnings, that was a wonderful place to do sociology, creative, free-thinking and democratically run (most of the time). I am particularly grateful to three friends in the department – Brian Longhurst, the late, and very much missed, John Urry, and Alan Warde – who all spent much time discussing the issues with which this book is concerned although they may not recognize the view taken of them here. Lancaster University was also very encouraging of cross-disciplinary work in social sciences and the humanities. As will be obvious to them, this book owes a great deal to the members of
