Ideologies of consumption: colonialism and the commodification of goods in 18th-century Virginian and Lowland Scottish rural households

Abstract

During the 18th century consumers in the transatlantic British cultural world began to adopt new ideologies which informed their consumption behaviours. The acquisition of manufactured objects which were highly commodified played an essential part in this new consumer culture. By classifying household goods according to their commodification upon acquisition, the ideologies of consumption which shaped the decisions of historic individuals can be better understood. This paper proposes a method of classifying ceramics in such a way and demonstrates, using five households in the Scottish Lowlands and Virginia as case studies, the utility of commodification analysis in the investigation of British consumer reactions to the unique circumstances of the colonial period.