{"product_id":"why-i-buy","title":"Why I Buy","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhy do we buy? How do our acts of—and ideas  about—consumption impact our selves, our institutions, and our  societies? An incisive response to these questions, \u003ci\u003eWhy I Buy\u003c\/i\u003e explains how consumption came to give meaning and value to social and personal life. Balancing  psychological, conceptual, and historical analyses with examples drawn  from popular culture and mass media, Rami Gabriel traces the ways in  which beliefs about the self—including dualism, individualism, and  expressivism—influence consumer behavior. These understandings of the  self, Gabriel argues, structure the values that Americans seek and find  in consumer society; they therefore have structural consequences for our  cultural, political, and economic lives. For example, Gabriel describes  how imbalances in the institutions of participatory politics have  directly resulted from a consumer society centered on powerful  nongovernmental institutions and a scattered body of disengaged citizens  whose social and individual needs are not primarily satisfied through  civic involvement. By exploring the relationship between our individual  needs and our institutions, Gabriel ultimately points the way toward  transformations that could lead to a more sustaining and sustainable  society.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rami Gabriel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42849638154301,"sku":"9781841506456","price":42.26,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/7689\/2989\/files\/9781841506456_bede9213-fccc-44bd-b935-9315dbdee314.jpg?v=1767040416","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleaf.com.au\/products\/why-i-buy","provider":"Palmleaf","version":"1.0","type":"link"}