Cultural theorist Mica Nava makes an original and significant contribution to the study of cosmopolitanism by exploring everyday English urban cosmopolitanism and foregrounding the gendered, imaginative and empathetic aspects of positive engagement with cultural and racial difference. By looking at a wide range of texts, events and biographical narratives, she traces cosmopolitanism from its marginal status at the beginning of the twentieth century to its relative normalisation today. Case studies include the promotion of cosmopolitanism by Selfridges before the first world war; relationships between white English women and 'other' men -- Jews and black GIs -- during the 1930s and 1940s; literary, cinematic and social science representations of migrants in postcolonial Britain; and Diana and Dodi's interracial romance in the 1990s. In the final chapter, the author draws on her own complex family history to illustrate the contemporary cosmopolitan London experience.Scholars have tended to ignore the oppositional cultures of antiracism and social inclusivity. This groundbreaking study redresses this imbalance and offers a sophisticated account of the uneven history of vernacular cosmopolitanism.

Full Contributors:
Monika Bernold, University of Vienna, Andrea Ellmeier, University of Vienna, Mica Nava, University of East London, Andrew Blake, University of East London, Colin Campbell, University of York, Joanne Entwhistle, University of North London, Pasi Falk, University of Helsinki, Robert Goldman, Lewis Clarke College, Steven Kline, Simon Fraser University, Reina Lewis, University of East London, Katrina Rolley, University of East London, Celia Lury, University of Lancaster, Alan Warde, University of Lancaster, Frank Mort, Portsmouth University, Iain MacRury, University of East London, Sean Nixon, University of Essex, Stephanie O'Donohue, Edinburgh University, Kim Christian Schoder, University of Roskigde, Denmark, Rob Shields, Carleton University, Andrew Wernick, Trent University, Ontario

Buy This Book is an important contribution to the history and understanding of consumption and advertising. This book brings together an outstanding collection of writing on the study of advertising, consumer practices and the future directions of research.
Advertising and Consumption constitutes an invaluable resource for researchers, teachers and students. The essays are based on new textual and ethnographic research and engage with existing theoretical and historical work to form a volume which is a challenging companion to studies in this field.

Confronting the contemporary poststructuralist debate from the perspective of cultural of cultural historiography, this book presents an historical study of race and ethnicity. Specifically, it provides an account, both theoretical and applied, of the combination of sexual, racial and ethnic underpinning and shaping the experiences of English men and women in various colonies in the nineteenth century. Although accessible for the student, the book will be received seriously by both theorists and historians.

Confronting the contemporary poststructuralist debate from the perspective of cultural historiography, this work presents an historical study of race and ethnicity. Specifically, it provides an account, both theoretical and applied, of the combination of sexual, racial and ethnic factors underpinning and shaping the experiences of English men and women in various colonies in the 19th century. Although accessible for the student, the work is intended to be of use to theorists and historians as well.

Changing Cultures brings together a selection of challenging essays which have their roots in the fertile convergence of feminism, sociology and cultural studies. Themes include the assessment of feminist theory, its transformations and its ability to illuminate issues and practices. The complex relationship between objects of study, their political implications and their historical context is a recurring theme. The book includes analyses of the utopianism of feminist thought on the family; sexuality and sexual difference in youth service provision; and the symbolic resonance of the urban and the domestic in the education of girls. It goes on to investigate child sexual abuse in relation to problems of interpretation and the politics of media representation. The final section examines different theorizations of consumerism and advertising and their implications for our understanding of youth and consumerism.

Cultural theorist Mica Nava makes an original and significant contribution to the study of cosmopolitanism by exploring everyday English urban cosmopolitanism and foregrounding the gendered, imaginative and empathetic aspects of positive engagement with cultural and racial difference. By looking at a wide range of texts, events and biographical narratives, she traces cosmopolitanism from its marginal status at the beginning of the twentieth century to its relative normalisation today. Case studies include the promotion of cosmopolitanism by Selfridges before the first world war; relationships between white English women and 'other' men -- Jews and black GIs -- during the 1930s and 1940s; literary, cinematic and social science representations of migrants in postcolonial Britain; and Diana and Dodi's interracial romance in the 1990s. In the final chapter, the author draws on her own complex family history to illustrate the contemporary cosmopolitan London experience.Scholars have tended to ignore the oppositional cultures of antiracism and social inclusivity. This groundbreaking study redresses this imbalance and offers a sophisticated account of the uneven history of vernacular cosmopolitanism.

Changing Cultures brings together a selection of challenging essays which have their roots in the fertile convergence of feminism, sociology and cultural studies. Themes include the assessment of feminist theory, its transformations and its ability to illuminate issues and practices. The complex relationship between objects of study, their political implications and their historical context is a recurring theme. The book includes analyses of the utopianism of feminist thought on the family; sexuality and sexual difference in youth service provision; and the symbolic resonance of the urban and the domestic in the education of girls. It goes on to investigate child sexual abuse in relation to problems of interpretation and the politics of media representation. The final section examines different theorizations of consumerism and advertising and their implications for our understanding of youth and consumerism.