In today's world, the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite. Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry canvas tote bags, and breast-feed their babies. They care about discreet, inconspicuous consumption-like eating free-range chicken and heirloom tomatoes, wearing organic cotton shirts and TOMS shoes, and listening to the latest podcast. They use their purchasing power to hire nannies and housekeepers, to cultivate their children's growth, and to practice yoga and Pilates. In
The Sum of Small Things, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett dubs this new elite "the aspirational class" and discusses how, through deft decisions about education, health, parenting, and retirement, they reproduce wealth and upward mobility, deepening the ever-wider class divide. With a rich narrative and extensive interviews and research,
The Sum of Small Things illustrates how cultural capital leads to lifestyle shifts and examines what these changes will mean for everyone.
About the AuthorElizabeth Currid-Halkett is the James Irvine Chair in Urban and Regional Planning and professor of public policy at the University of Southern California.
Reviews"One of the Economist.com "Wise Words 2017 Books of the Year" in Culture"
Book InformationISBN 9780691183176
Author Elizabeth Currid-HalkettFormat Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Princeton University PressPublisher Princeton University Press