"More than a history of social change and shoplifting. It is a
study of consumer culture and technological change, class privilege
and gender roles in transition, female criminality and social
control...Interesting, well-written, and informative."--American
Journal of Sociology
"[An] intelligent and intriguing probe into the social history of
American shoplifting...A fascinating story, replete with evidence
of changing and intersecting class and gender relationships. The
author tells it inventively and well."--The Journal of American
History
"Unlike social theorists who view industrial capitalism as a
resolute march toward modernity, Ableson offers a far more
sophisticated and complex interpretation...Exceptionally
provocative and well-conceived."--Business History Review
"Interesting and well-written...Well put together and
suggestive."--American Historical Review
"Abelson offers fresh material...in her lively and eminently
readable social history of shoplifting in the United States and,
tangentially, Europe...Students of developments and transmutation
of gender stereotypes of modern capitalist society will love this
book--as will those who ponder the meaning of the glittering and
far-flung shopping malls of our own time. Abelson's trenchant
comments also illuminate the history of labeling in deviance and
its
interconnections with social and economic interests."--Contemporary
Sociology
"Very well written, original, and compelling. It breaks fresh
ground and commands the reader's attention."--Daniel Horowitz,
Smith College
"The outlines of a kleptomania story have been adumbrated, but a
full-fledged treatment of the subject has been wanting until the
publication of Elaine Abelson's excellent and readablee account of
shoplifiting in the Victorian American department
store."--Victorian Studies
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