The Theory of the Leisure Class (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Thorstein Veblen

In this classic work, Veblen sets forth his theory that the economic life of modern society is rooted in the division of labor dating back to tribal times. That is, that the ruling or leisure class reserved what they considered the most important tasks—such as warring and hunting—for themselves, while dictating tasks such as farming or cooking to the lower echelons. In the book, Veblen famously coined the term “conspicuous consumption.” Still relevant today, The Theory of the Leisure Class remains a landmark work in the fields of economics and sociology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Dec 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411464698

Reviews for The Theory of the Leisure Class (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class is a "Famous Classic of Economic Thought" according to the front of this fifty year old paperback. It was originally published in America in 1899, and has been in print ever since, as it is indeed a classic, for at least two reasons: Firstly, it is a very insightful work that explains a lot of what initially appear from an economic perspective to be irrational acts. Secondly, it is written in an unusual style that is highly ironic in its scorn, yet retains no ambiguity in its theoretical points like other ironic works often do. This makes it fairly entertaining in places for such a serious academic work.Though you might not have heard of this book before (I hadn't, but I'm not an economist), you are likely to be familiar with at least one of the two main concepts that it coins – Conspicuous Consumption, and Conspicuous Leisure. Together these initially appear to be paradoxical in economic terms, however the author provides convincing economic, social and pyschological factors that explain their existence. As he explains, and I will greatly simplify here, status and honour in pre-monetary forms of society were gained by feats of war and the acquisition of trophies, wives, slaves, cattle etc, or by physically defeating rivals. Reputation was easier to transmit socially due to the smaller scale of their societies. In transitional stages, and the modern age when status in a large capitalist society is based largely on pecuniary measures ie wealth, the most effective method of displaying repute is therefore conspicuous consumption or conspicuous leisure. These two concepts have great power in explaining scoial behaviour through the ages, and throughout society, not just among the leisure class (though this is where they are most obvious). When viewed with some detatchment, what results from these two diriving forces is often ridiculuous behaviour, of which many historical and modern examples could be provided. As well as the more obviously ridiculous examples (such as fish knives and stretch Limousines), the effect of these forces permeates society right into the mundane and everyday items that we take for granted (such as the wearing of impractical items such as the modern suit, which originally served and still does serve to draw class distinctions between manual labour and white collar jobs). This is not to say that what originated for the reasons of social status, has not persisted for other reasons such as aesthetics, and it is acknowledged here that the purposes of conspicuous consumption and leisure rarely work alone but are often joined by other motivations.All the essentials of the theory, and its more interesting implications are contained in the first 7 chapters (roughly the first half of the book), while the remainder could largely be skipped as it goes into a lot of trivialities that the reader could infer from what they had read in the first half. Also chapter 9 is largely useless due to its basis on an out-of-date and often wrong understanding of biological inheritance of traits.Aside from these few complaints this is surely a very important work for economists to read, and probably of large interest a proportion of the general intellectual readership due to the vast applicability of its therories throughout modern culture. In fact, despite a lot of the theory being based on American society 120 years ago, much of what is said is true in greater degree today than it was then. This is easily appreciated by the way recent trends in social media (Facebook, Instagram etc) have amplified the ease, reach and extent of the conspicuoulsy consuming and taking leisure. A modern book on this could hardly say more on the vanity and vacuity of these trends than is said here, which is huge credit to the insight of Veblen.

[alexanme-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Overambitious, arrogant, almost offensively Darwinian in its discussion of institutions, but nonetheless insightful and fun. (lol Veblen)

[devil_llama · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the most classic works on America told by a European observer. It is dense and wordy, as befits the time in which it was published. Interesting, if somewhat dated, though many of the ideas and observations are still eerily accurate. Don't try to read this on a train if the fellow behind you insists on playing his guitar; you won't be able to focus, and this book requires a good level of attention.

[hellbent_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Veblen's prose is almost intentionally abstruse, full of polysyllabics, many of which cannot be found in modern dictionaries. It seems almost as though he did not want to be understood by the uneducated.Veblen's ideas were perceptive, but his ways of expressing them, tortured and professorial. This book is definitely a candidate for condensation, a la Reader's Digest. This book could probably be more successful as a long essay, written in the modern vernacular.

[gazzy_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A classic in the field of economics. Coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption." Not as dry as economic theory books go, brimming with ideas, but also not a page turner.

[jonesjohnson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everyone in America should read this book. Period. End of story.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not versed in economic theory, so I was worried about making it through this one, but it ended up being extremely readable. It's a bit flat to read in long marathon sessions instead of a chapter here and there, but Veblen does a good job of balancing much needed explanation with more technical discussions of terminology and historical development. At times, there's some repetition, but for the most part it's necessary (at least for a layperson like myself). It's dry at times, but at other times it's a bit horrifying, especially when you realize that much of Veblen's discussion can apply to our society, despite the passage of time. In the end, I do recommed this if you're interested in American History or the economic drives behind society and societal norms--at times, it really is frightening how on target Veblen's analysis seems in the connections he makes.

[breadhat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Amusingly dated in some respects and disturbingly relevant in others, this book is full of engaging ideas and dry humor. So I am at a loss to explain why I could rarely make it through more than five pages at a time without starting to fall asleep. I think that the lack of a scholarly apparatus, rather than making the writing more accessible, actually made it more monotonous to me. It's a nice addition to the intellectual toolkit, and I don't regret reading it, but I plan to make my next read something less soporific.

[gottfried_leibniz-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Veblen was a Norwegian American writing this around early 1900's.

I came across this book after reading Adam Smith. Veblen is focused mostly on the social ladder, conspicuous leisure, consumption.

He takes a darwinian approach to social evolution in society. I learnt new words like occidental, which means Western. I would recommend this book only if you want to know about society from an evolutionary perspective.

--Deus Vult
Gottfried