Consumer Credit in the United States : A Sociological Perspective From the 19th Century to the Present

It is commonly imagined that in recent years the rampant growth of consumer credit has lured American consumers into a crippling state of indebtedness, a state that has upended old cultural values of Puritan thrift and stimulated a frenzy of consumption. Drawing on the sociological concept of ‘government’ and informed by a historical perspective, Marron presents a much more complex and nuanced reality. From its early antecedents in nineteenth century salary lending and instalment selling, she shows how the emergence and growth of consumer credit in the United States have always been subject to shifting regimes of control and regulation. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 1 Fishing for Sharks and Governing Small Loans......Page 30 2 Consuming by Installments: The Rise of Retail Credit......Page 50 3 Assembling the Automobile, Reassembling Thrift......Page 64 4 Mass Credit, Mass Society, and Their Discontents......Page 80 5 Plastic Credit, Plastic Lifestyles......Page 92 6 Credit Reporting and Consumer Surveillance......Page 112 7 Risk and Technologies of Credit Scoring......Page 128 8 Borrowing on the Fringe: The Fate of the Risky......Page 154 9 Risk, Identity, and the Consumer......Page 174 10 “See How Lenders See You”: From Actuarial to Subjective Governance......Page 188 11 Securing the Self......Page 206 Conclusion: Taking Life......Page 224 Notes......Page 232 References......Page 242 C......Page 264 D......Page 266 F......Page 267 H......Page 268 M......Page 269 P......Page 270 S......Page 271 W......Page 272 Z......Page 273 The object and scope of this book is the development of marketed consumer credit within the United States from the mid decades of the nineteenth century up until the present day. The object and scope of this book is the development of marketed consumer credit within the United States from the mid decades of the 19th century up until the present day