Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen - Book Report/Review Example

Number: Book Report for the Theory of the Leisure INTRODUCTION a. “The Theory of the Leisure by Thorstein Veblen b. The main concept of the book is to provide information related to conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure to the academic discipline of sociology. The Theory of the Leisure Class also presents the concept of economics as well as sociology. The book also presents the differences between standard of living of higher class and lower class people. Source: (Veblen 1-53) THORSTEIN VEBLEN a. Thorstein Bunde Veblen was born on 30th July, 1857. He was the fourth out of 12 children in Veblen family. Veblen began his study at the age of 5 years. Veblen completed his graduation in the year 1884 and remained unemployed for seven years. He was also known as an economist as well as a socialist of America besides being recognized as the leader of the “Institutional Economics Movement”. He is also qualified for the major value and standards of techniques, which is used by the economists of institution, recognized as the Veblenian dichotomy. Veblen was also a popular capitalist, as explained in his best book “The Theory of the Leisure Class” (Veblen 1-5). b. There are certain contributions of Veblen towards the study of economies. He re-established economic thoughts of 20th century based on Darwinian philosophies as well as new ideas, which were developing from sociology, anthropology and psychology among other streams of schools. Veblen was the first to explain economic behavior as the socially and the economic organization and as the procedure of ongoing evaluation. He excluded the theories, which were based on activities of individuals or were marked on any aspect related to an inner personal inspiration, because according to him, these types of theories are unrealistic (Veblen 1-53). For providing the information related to the economics, Veblen wrote the book, “The Theory of the Leisure Class”, which is known as one of his best creations. According to Veblen, economic theories are static as well as hedonistic and economists should take the consideration that the behavior of people should be relevant to the social as well as cultural behaviors. In his book, he explained about the prime theme of economics along with sociology. According to Veblen, the economic life of society can be motivated by the organizational as well as cultural methods of the social stratification (Veblen 1-53). c. There are also certain contributions of Thorstein Veblen towards the society, politics and religion among others. He provides with several astonishing but seemingly simple information related to the society, politics and religion through his writings in The Theory of Leisure Class (1998) and the Theory of Business Enterprise (1904). According to him, by exercising political control, the leisure class retained their high social standards through direct as well as indirect pressures. People should have the knowledge about the social status within their social class too (Veblen 1-53). As he explains, in society, high status people can consume the positional goods and high priced brands of goods and products provide the good quality of products to the higher class of people. There are two divisions in the society based on the income level and the living standards of the people, such as high status people and low status people. The people of two different statuses lead the different types of life style. Veblen also provides the information about the politics and the religion of the society. In 1923, Veblen described about the religion in his first writing related to “advertising and marketing” (Veblen 1-53). According to him, marketing became the “Propaganda of the Faith”. The major concept of Veblen regarding the working process of the society refers to how society functions. In society, there are various types of people who belong to different religions and different classes. The contributions of Veblen for the development of the society is both male as well as female should work together towards the society and individuals should take the initiative to observe the work for the development of the society. There should be differentiation between worthy work such as warfare, politics and unworthy work such as menial labor (Veblen 1-53). MAIN BODY CONCEPT a. The Theory of Leisure Class an article on consumption. It can also be referred as the complete study of conspicuous consumption. This book is also about how the social as well as economic variables of out-dated period has sustained to the modern period. This book has been derived from the three articles, published in the year 1898 in American Journal of Sociology. The main concept of the text is to develop the idea of ‘conspicuous consumption’ as well as ‘conspicuous leisure’. According to the author, conspicuous consumption refers to the assumption that good qualities of products depend on the spending of money. On the other hand, conspicuous leisure is the good concept for the effective work, as it involves in the designate of the rural social status. Therefore, Conspicuous consumption involves in money and resources of materials towards the presentation of higher social status. It refers to the spending of more money on goods can be the result of good quality of products. He also explained that people of leisure class are often connected with the business. However, he also notes that there are some people of leisure class who are also connected with the conspicuous consumption to impress other people of the society, through the manifestation of their social power. On the other hand, conspicuous leisure involves the uses of time for the sake of displaying the social status. To be noted in this regard, conspicuous leisure worked effectively to designate the social status in the rural areas. (Veblen 1-53). b. The Theory of Leisure Class book contains the fourteen chapters. The book mainly covers information about the standard of living of the higher class of people, the importance of conspicuous leisure for the rural areas and conspicuous consumption among others. Veblen likewise provides information related to the society as well as for the development of the society. The Theory of Leisure Class also focuses on the standard of living of higher class of people and the problem, which can arise due to differences between the classes of people (Veblen 1-53). In the section for pecuniary emulation, Veblen described that the differences between the leisure as well as the working classes can be created through divisions among the males as well as females in the lower stages of barbarism. It also explains that the initiative of individuals can be helpful to attain consistency, as ownership is an important aspect for the development of the society as well as organization. The next chapter concentrates on conspicuous leisure, which involves the utilization of time to display the social status (Veblen 1-53). It is an effective task for the development of the rural areas and the standard of living of leisure. This book explains that the theories of economies, during the time of Thorstein Veblen, were static and hedonistic. The book also provide the information about the about the differences between the higher class and the lower class of people along with people of urban areas and rural areas. Veblen also delivers the information through his book “The Theory of Leisure Class” regarding the how people can improve their society as well as their lifestyle (Veblen 1-53). It also asserts that wealth and power should be sufficient to gain the esteem of men and that power should be put in the evidence. Other chapter of the Theory of Leisure Class is conspicuous consumption, which highlights the assumption that the best quality of goods or products depends on the spending of money of people in the society. It indicates higher standard of people spending more money for the best quality of goods as well as products. Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is also a means of reputability to the people of leisure. It is also assessed in this chapter that due to the collection of wealth, leisure class can improve the function as well as structure that can raise a differentiation among the class. In the next chapter, the pecuniary standard of living, Veblen explained the economic and social impacts of the standard of living followed by leisure class people (Veblen 1-53). Arguably, the standard of living depends on the nature of habit and refers to a habitual measure of individual. Individuals thus have to take the initiative to maintain their standard of living in the society but spending of money is also required to maintain the standard of living. In his entire book, The Theory of Leisure Class, Veblen argued about the differentiation between the classes and the standard of living of leisure class along with the economies as well as sociology. He also evaluated that how people of the society can work along with the behavior of the society, both socially as well as culturally. Through this book, he provides detailed information about economic trends as well as sociological aspects currently on change within the society (Veblen 1-53). c. The main supporting arguments for the concept can be the information about working process of people in the society and the connection between the economies as well as societies. The attention of this book has been the contribution of Veblen towards the economies, societies, politics and religion barriers. He also argued that the several theories of economics are related to the static and the economic life of people that can be motivated through organizational as well as cultural methods (Veblen 1-9). Other supporting arguments for the main concept are the development of the rural areas emphasizing improvements in the working style. The people of leisure who were involved in conspicuous consumption should also take the initiative to improve the standard of living of other people of society. The main concept can be influenced by the development of the economies and societies along with the contribution of male as well as female emphasizing teamwork for the society (Veblen 1-9). d. The theme of “The Theory of Leisure Class” is to deliver information about the improvement of the society by developing various institutions. How people of leisure class and the female as well as male can contribute for the improvement of the economies as well as societies (Veblen 1-9). The advantages or benefit of the theme of the book refers to the improvement of people’s standard of living in the rural areas. The result of the theme can be that people of leisure class obtain the knowledge about the economies as well as differentiation among social classes, which can be a problem to societal developments. The effects of the theme can be the effects of economies, effects of societies and the effects of politics as well as religion, which comprise the major concerns for the development of the societies (Veblen 1-9). CONCLUSION a. The major idea or concept of this book is the improvement of the society by developing the economies socially and enhancing the economic life of the people in the modern society simultaneously. Another thought of the book is to deliver the information about conspicuous consumption as well as conspicuous leisure and the contribution of these two concepts towards the society. It also provides information that the dress of a male as well as that of a female can be considered as the expression of the social culture and it can enhance the quality of standard of living of people in the society (O’Hara 79-103). b. The current event that can be related to the theme can be the cost of life, which is also considered as the economic value that provides information about the value of general as well as specific life. Notably, cost of life can improve the quality of life of people by developing the economies and social systems among others. The concept of the theme and the event is the same both are mainly focus on the improvement of the economic life of the people based on the modern society. The concept of cost of life is also one of the major areas, which can be helpful for the development of people’s standard of living in the modern society along with the political economy and the middle class or lower class of people of the rural areas (O’Hara 79-103). c. According to me, the concept of Thorstein Veblen is rightly based on the activities of modern society. In modern society, people should develop their standard of living so that differences between the classes can be mitigated. In a society, there are different types of people who belong to different classes, different religions and different cultures. There is a major difference among the higher standards and lower standards in terms of employments and the wages too. Higher standard people are getting certain extra facilities rather than lower standard of people. According to me, in modern society, people are focused on the quality of the products or goods, as they believe that the quality of brand products are real goods and the piece of the brand products is high rather than other products (O’Hara 79-103). Rural areas are also referred to those areas, which are located outside the town and which, are not developed like the urban areas. Therefore, it is essential to develop the quality of life as well as living of standard persistent among the people of rural areas for the development of the economic life in the society. According to me, by developing the standard of living of the people in rural areas and the middle as well as lower status of people, the differentiation between the classes can be reduced and the economic life of modern society can also be improved. From the overall discussion, it can be stated that the values of economies as well as societies are essential for the overall improvement of the economic life (O’Hara 79-103). Works Cited O’Hara, Phillip Anthony. “The Contemporary Relevance of Thorstein Veblen’s Institutional-Evolutionary Political Economy”. Veblen’s Political Economy. (2015): 79-103. Print. Veblen, Thorstein. “The Theory of the Leisure Class”. Columbia Law School. (2014): 1-53. Print. Veblen, Thorstein. “The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions”. Introductory. (1899): 1-9. Print. Read More