Purchasing Power

Drawing on rich archival research, Donica Belisle has written a fascinating consumer history of Canada, focusing on women's contributions before the Second World War. This well-written study explores the links between citizenship and consumption, detailing the ways that white British practices were normalized as 'Canadian' and the role that women played in the formation of white Canadian nationalism in the early twentieth century. -- Vicki Howard, Department of History, University of Essex Today, the term 'pro-sumer' denotes 'a consumer who becomes involved with designing or customizing products for their own needs.' This study of women considers the forms of political consumerism in which they engaged and reveals the political values they held. -- Anne Burke * <em>The Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature</em> * Many white Canadian women between the 1890s and 1930s deployed notions of consumer taste to solidify their own privilege. This book helps us appreciate why consumption continues to compel so many women now, even in the face of mounting evidence of its destructiveness. -- Tracey Deutsch, Department of History and the Imagine Chair in Arts, Design, and Humanities, University of Minnesota La force du livre de Donica Belisle, dont l'ecriture est par ailleurs limpide, est de restituer la complexite et les ambivalences qui ont ponctue le chemin vers la societe de consommation industrielle. Cet ouvrage represente donc une contribution majeure a l'histoire de l'economie politique canadienne. -- Clarence Hatton-Proulx, Sorbonne Universite * <em>Histoire sociale / Social History</em> * This is a wonderful book that delves deeply into issues of class, gender, and race, considering how these classifications alternatively empower and exclude. -- P. LeClerc, emerita, St. Lawrence University * <em>CHOICE</em> *