The development of consumption culture and the individualisation of female identity: Fashion discourse in the Netherlands 1880-1920

This article investigates how the arena of fashion, as an example of consumption culture, has been an important locus of female individualization. Individualization is defined in a Foucauldian manner as the process by which human beings are channelled into individuals. From the mid-19th century onwards, the subject of 'individualization' has been a central theme in sociological, historical and anthropological thought. It is striking how, even now, leading commentators are addressing the issue in gender-blind terms. Feminist scholars have therefore criticized the mainstream debate about individ... Mehr ...