ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests a theoretical grounding of consumption behavior that underlies the rise in consumerism that largely coincided with the transition to a more bureaucratic, oligopolistic capitalism during the early twentieth century. Consumer choice exists independently of any analysis of the social structure of capitalism. Neoclassical economic theory has ultimately turned economics into an offshoot of psychology. The issue of consumerism's ascendancy is primarily linked to three features of the social structure: the structure of labor markets, the nature of class relations, and the impact of capitalist production on the gender division of labor within the home. As dreaming has limits due to the nature of pleasure gained from these dreams, the physical product is necessary to bring the dream to reality. Urbanization has preceded but also correlated with the development of capitalism. Social structure is an important element in Marxian analysis.
