LuxuryLuxury: History, Culture, Consumption is the first truly interdisciplinary, academic journal devoted to luxury, and satisfies the demand for scholarly, unbiased and penetrating thinking on the subject. The journal considers luxury in broad socio-cultural contexts, exploring and interrogating both our historical and contemporary understanding of the term.
Within the context of the contemporary global economic recession, our consumption of luxury is being questioned and indeed transformed, with notions of ‘affordable luxury’, ‘sustainable luxury’ and even ‘luxury for less’ suggesting a new discourse. At the same time, the demand for luxury goods and services on a global scale is at an unprecedented level. Luxury examines all aspects of the subject: its historical formation and understanding, its contemporary global political and economic function, alongside an exploration of how the concept of luxury remains an impetus for design, popular culture, literature and fine art.
The journal publishes peer-reviewed papers from leading academics and commentators from a variety of disciplines providing an account of luxury that includes the historical, international, political and economic, alongside those directly concerned with the contemporary luxury industry. Each issue will demonstrate the breadth and interpretation of the term that its contemporary status demands and the contestation of luxury in the form of socio-political critique will generate challenging academic debate, establishing the journal as the leading forum for those interested in the field.
