J. R. Clammer

'Culture, Development and Social Theory' places culture back at the centre of debates in development studies, introducing new ways of conceptualizing culture in relation to development by linking development studies to cultural studies, studies of social movements, religion and the notion of 'social suffering.' The author expertly argues that in the current world crisis it is necessary to recover a more holistic vision of development that creates a vocabulary linking more technical (and show more predominantly economic) aspects of development with more humanistic and ecological goals. Furthermore, that any conceptions of post-capitalist economies and societies require cultural as well as economic and political dimensions. show less

I have some nitpicky problems with this, but it remains a solid interpretive intro to Japanese consumption patterns.