Individual desire and collective rituals of consuming together seem now to contradict ideals of achievement in the future. This calls for new ways of thinking about morality, the body, citizenship and equality - indeed about the social bond. The essays discuss theoretical implications of this new vision and give examples of new codes of happiness in consuming products, both material and cultural.

The authors provide a rich appreciation of the passion of consumption in advertising, in nutrition and alcohol, in city cultures, in entertainment and the media. They also address the other side of the coin, facing issues of environmental risk and public health, and discuss the continued need and possibility of a rational regulation of needs and pleasures by consumer policy.