‘In all but the lowest stages of culture the normally constituted man is comforted and upheld in his self-respect by “decent surroundings” and by exemption from “menial offices.”’
Originally published in 1899, The Theory of the Leisure Class is Thorstein Veblen’s first book. In this book, he introduced the idea of “conspicuous consumption”, the acquiring of luxury goods and services in order to display economic power. According to Veblen, society was becoming increasingly stratified and businessmen who owned the means of production were part of a new economically unproductive upper class. In order to maintain their social status, the upper class occupied themselves with “conspicuous consumption” and “conspicuous leisure”, neither of which were needed for the maintenance and functioning of society. Despite being written in 1899, Veblen’s concept of “conspicuous consumption” continues to be relevant as wealth disparity continues to increase throughout the world. In the age of social media, the flaunting of wealth is both much easier and much more noticeable. The Theory of the Leisure Class remains to this day a landmark study on American upper society and a bold work of economic and social theory.
Thorstein Veblen was an American economist and social scientist who made important contributions to the study of economic institutions and the study of social class. He is best known for his book The Theory of the Leisure Class which introduced the term “conspicuous consumption”.