Read: Fiske, "Shopping for Pleasure"
Miller, "Consumption and Its Consequences"
Kroeber, "On the Principle of Order in Civilization as Exemplified by Changes of Fashion"
Cannon, "The Cultural and Historical Contexts of Fashion"

1. How does Fiske link pleasure, power, and resistance in shopping? Thinking of your own experiences window shopping, do you agree with his argument?

2. On pages 19-20, Miller lists the aims for his chapter. What are they, and how does he demonstrate each of these points? Can you give examples from your own personal experience to support his arguments? How does consumption link the global and the local in our daily lives?

3. What are Kroeber's methods? Why does he wish to develop objective, scientific measurements for fashion and cultural change? What does Kroeber mean by "civilizational determinism" and "individualistic randomness" (261)? What are the strengths and weaknesses of his methods and conclusions?

4. According to Cannon, what are the requirements for "fashion," and how do Native American interactions with Europeans demonstrate that fashion was an indigenous phenomenon? How does Cannon's research challenge conventional notions of fashion and who has it?

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu