Largely organized via commercial relations of some kind, gyms are key sites for studying consumption and subjectivity in contemporary society. Gym-goers are typically addressed as individuals who take control of both the market and themselves. Through a variety of qualitative sources - ethnographies[...]

Showing the cultural and institutional processes that have brought the notion of the 'consumer' to life, this work guides the reader on a comprehensive journey through the history of how we have come to understand ourselves as consumers in a consumer society and reveals the profound ambiguities and [...]