WAffluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic is a 2001 anti-consumerist book by John de Graaf, environmental scientist David Wann, and economist Thomas H. Naylor. Viewing consumerism as a deliberately spread disease, the book consists of three parts—symptoms, origins, and treatment. Affluenza is described as "a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more".
WAffluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough is a book written by Professor Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss, and was published in 2005. According to the book, Western society is addicted to overconsumption and this situation is unique in human history. Hamilton and Denniss argue that overconsumption is driven by aspiration, in an effort to emulate the lifestyles of the rich and the famous through the identities and fulfilments that commodities are supposed to, but do not necessarily, deliver. Rates of stress, depression and obesity are high as people try to cope with the emptiness and disappointments of consumer life.
WThe Crack in the Picture Window is a 1956 book of social criticism by the American writer John Keats.
WThe Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World is a nonfiction social sciences and sociology book by sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson, The authors introduced the term "Cultural Creatives" to describe a large segment in Western society who since about 1985 have developed beyond the standard paradigm of modernists or progressives versus traditionalists or conservatives. Ray and Anderson claim to have found 50 million adult Americans can now be identified as belonging to this group. They estimated an additional 80–90 million "Cultural Creatives" exist in Europe as of 2000.
WThe Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement is a 1997 encyclopedia edited by Stephen Brobeck and which describes the history of the consumer movement and other topics related to consumerism.
WThe Female Eunuch is a 1970 book by Germaine Greer that became an international bestseller and an important text in the feminist movement. Greer's thesis is that the "traditional" suburban, consumerist, nuclear family represses women sexually, and that this devitalises them, rendering them eunuchs. The book was published in London in October 1970. It received a mixed reception, but by March 1971, it had nearly sold out its second printing. It has been translated into eleven languages.
WThe Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being is a 2015 book written by William Davies, in which the author proposes that the contemporary notions of happiness and well-being are being warped by the forces of numerous governmental and business institutions to make happiness as a concept to be something that promotes consumption.
WMeat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism is a 2011 book by British journalist, author and political activist Laurie Penny, which they describe as their "little anti-capitalist-feminist pop-theory book".
WThe Ministry of Nostalgia is a 2016 book by British writer Owen Hatherley.
WThe Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins is a 2015 book by the Chinese American anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. The book describes and analyzes the globalized commodity chains of matsutake mushrooms.
WNo Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies is a book by the Canadian author Naomi Klein. First published by Knopf Canada and Picador in December 1999, shortly after the 1999 WTO Ministerial Conference protests in Seattle had generated media attention around such issues, it became one of the most influential books about the alter-globalization movement and an international bestseller.
WThe Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less is a 2004 book by American psychologist Barry Schwartz. In the book, Schwartz argues that eliminating consumer choices can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers.Autonomy and Freedom of choice are critical to our well being, and choice is critical to freedom and autonomy. Nonetheless, though modern Americans have more choice than any group of people ever has before, and thus, presumably, more freedom and autonomy, we don't seem to be benefiting from it psychologically.
WRevolution is a non-fiction book written by the British comedian, actor and political activist Russell Brand. In it, Brand advocates for a non-violent social revolution based on principles of spirituality and the common good. Critical response to the book was divided. While some reviewers praised its "charm" and Brand's "distinctive" voice, others complained about a lack of style and substance
WShopped: The Shocking Power Of British Supermarkets is a book by British author and investigative journalist Joanna Blythman first published by Fourth Estate in 2004. Described by one reviewer as "an emotive and bitter attack on [Britain's] supermarket culture" the book examines the way supermarkets have changed "diets, cities, countryside and economy" in Britain and argues that consumers have unwittingly "surrendered control over what [they] eat to a few powerful chains." Along with Felicity Lawrence's Not On The Label (2004) and Colin Tudge's So Shall We Reap (2003), Shopped was seen by some critics as representing the frontline of the emerging, radical Slow Food movement in Europe. The book helped establish Blythman's reputation as "one of the most influential commentators" on British supermarkets. It was the winner of the Best Food Book prize at the 2005 Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards and was shortlisted for the 2005 Guild of Food Writers' Awards.
WThe Society of the Spectacle is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, in which the author develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. The book is considered a seminal text for the Situationist movement. Debord published a follow-up book Comments on the Society of the Spectacle in 1988.
WSteal This Book is a book written by Abbie Hoffman. Written in 1970 and published in 1971, the book exemplified the counterculture of the sixties. The book sold more than a quarter of a million copies between April and November 1971.
WUnspeakable Things: Sex, Lies and Revolution is a 2014 book by British journalist, author and political activist Laurie Penny.
WThe Waste Makers is a 1960 book on consumerism by Vance Packard. It was bestselling when it was released. The book argues that people in the United States consume a lot more than they should and are harmed by their consumption.