Social class and local communities appear to be in irreversible decline in the West. Job insecurity has grown, and fewer people see work as giving meaning to their lives. Instead they turn to consumption for social standing, a sense of identity, and personal fulfilment. We appear to be living through a profound transition from a society based on production to a new social order--the consumer society. This wide-ranging book examines whether consumer society has delivered choice, freedom, and prosperity, or individualism, selfishness, and social exclusion. It analyzes the relationship between the rise of consumerism and the transformation of the world of work, and concludes by examining