The Authority of the Consumer explores the implications of 'consumer society' - charting its meanings in particular contexts and debating the merits or drawbacks of this way of understanding the relationship between 'providers' and 'recipients'. Some have seen this development as involving a radical shift of authority - away from the provider/producer and towards the recipient/consumer. But they have differed in their responses to this shift, either welcoming it in terms of democratization, anti-elitism or empowerment, or decrying it as commercialization, populism or loss of integrity. Others have been more sceptical. These issues are explored in this important and wide-ranging book. The authors have drawn from several disciplines in the social sciences and humanities and include several non-academics.