ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents a range of case studies from across the globe, from Latin America to Africa and the Middle East, and beyond: to Asia and Australia. It describes local activities that subvert the ‘standard’ consumer practices generally associated with shopping malls. The book explains the various incarnations that the building underwent since its initial inception: from shopping centre to homeless shelter, to Centro Ambiental de Venezuela, to prison. While the American shopping centre’s economic reign began to crumble at the start of the new millennium, its reputation had already come under fire from the late twentieth century on. The worldwide spread of shopping centres is often held responsible for the diffusion of a modern, Western consumer culture that diminishes locality and human agency, and moulds ‘globalized’ consumers.
