Economic Policy and Manufacturing Performance in Developing Countries edited by Oliver Morrissey and Michael Tribe (Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, 2001, pp. xi + 225).

✍ Scribed by Peter Lawrence

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 46 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0954-1748
• DOI: 10.1002/jid.1049

✦ Synopsis

studies. Both are vertical approaches, but Fine rightly argues that in global commodity chain analysis the 'concern is less with consumption as such than with the prospects of Third World producers' (p. 120) and that it totally neglects cultural aspects.

It seems to me that the book is not apt for lay readers, as the language is fairly specialist. Some background knowledge on Marx's political economy as well as on postmodernist sociology and mainstream economics is a prerequisite for getting a grasp of the book. Although the reader is promised on the back cover that the book is written in 'readily digestible prose', The World of Consumption does not make easy reading. This is due to the multiplicity of concepts from various disciplines, the high level of abstraction and the bulk of citations. A pro of the book is that it contains a wealth of references to relevant literature for scholars of consumption (the reference list contains no less than 40 pages!). Also, it provides those who believed that the 'system of provision' approach was not sufficiently developed after reading the first edition, with an opportunity to give it a new try with this updated edition. Unfortunately, to make space for the highly sophisticated discussion on the appropriate way to tackle consumption, the illuminating case studies on clothing and food from the first edition have been almost completely sacrificed. Consequently, for those scholars who are interested in applying the system of provision approach to a particular commodity, the first edition remains essential reading.