Award Date

1-1-2008

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Sociology

First Committee Member

Simon Gottschalk

Number of Pages

194

Abstract

The omnipresence of consumption in advanced societies is indisputable; spaces designed to facilitate consumption (or means of consumption) are one aspect of that presence. On the surface, these spaces appear to be quite harmless dreamworlds full of possibilities, but at another level they are highly instrumental, composed of various mechanisms that work to sell commodities through the manipulation of consumer behavior. I argue that consumption spaces express a logic of movement, and a consumption logistics, that is based on the commodity form and relatable to warfare that works to domesticate consumers into the commodity system. I engage in an exploratory study of these logistics on the Las Vegas Strip using the related concepts of network and flow. Logistics becomes an activity and consumption space a field of activity in which consumers submit to the logistical demands of designers. I argue, finally, that consumers need to re-discover fluidity and take a more active role in consumption space.

Keywords

Consumption; Las Vegas; Logic; Logistics; Movement; Nevada; Strip; Vegas

Controlled Subject

Sociology; City planning; Architecture

File Format

pdf

File Size

4065.28 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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