[Copiamos esta noticia de los amigos de Charisma Network avisando del número especial recién publicado en Consumption Markets & Culture que podrá de interés de los lectores de este blog]

‘Consuming Credit’, a new Special Issue of Consumption Markets & Culture, has just been published. The collection is edited by Paul Langley and is populated, in its entirety, by members of the Charisma network. It can be accessed here.

Here is an edited extract from Paul’s introduction to the issue in which he also recounts some of the origins of Charisma:

While making credit available to make consumption possible has a very long history indeed, it is the consolidated mass markets and cultures of contemporary consumer credit that provide the focus for this special issue. Contemporary consumer credit comes in a diverse variety of forms and product ranges. This includes, for example, instalment plans for the dedicated purchase of automobiles and “big ticket” items; unsecured loans of all shapes and sizes, such as short-term and small “pay-day” loans; and the bank overdrafts and “revolving” lines of credit on credit cards that do not have to be completely repaid at the end of each month. The interest rates payable on consumer credit diverge greatly within and across product markets and between consumers, and fluctuate over time. And, although significant social and geographical exclusions, inequalities and differentiations remain as consumer credit markets become more established and entrenched, credit for consumption is today more readily and widely available (at a price) to individuals, families and households. Continue reading →