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Consumerism as Theodicy: Religious and Secular Meaning Functions in Modern Society

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Religion, Consumerism and Sustainability

Part of the book series: Consumption and Public Life ((CUCO))

Abstract

On Monday 24 March 1851, a young girl named Annie, not yet ten years old, clings tearfully to her mother on a sofa in a house in Kent. For some months she has been suffering from stomach cramps, headaches, dizziness and difficulties in breathing. It is clear to her parents that her health is deteriorating. So on this day in late March, her father Charles prises Annie from her mother Emma’s reluctant farewell and together with her sister Henrietta and their nurse, Fanny, they set off for Dr James Gully’s famous water cure establishment in Malvern.

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Authors
  1. Tim Jackson
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  2. Miriam Pepper
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan University, UK

    Lyn Thomas

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© 2011 Tim Jackson and Miriam Pepper

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Cite this chapter

Jackson, T., Pepper, M. (2011). Consumerism as Theodicy: Religious and Secular Meaning Functions in Modern Society. In: Thomas, L. (eds) Religion, Consumerism and Sustainability. Consumption and Public Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230306134_2

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