Consumer Credit in the United States: A Sociological Perspective from the 19th Century to the Present

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 12
Introduction......Page 14
1 Fishing for Sharks and Governing Small Loans......Page 30
2 Consuming by Installments: The Rise of Retail Credit......Page 50
3 Assembling the Automobile, Reassembling Thrift......Page 64
4 Mass Credit, Mass Society, and Their Discontents......Page 80
5 Plastic Credit, Plastic Lifestyles......Page 92
6 Credit Reporting and Consumer Surveillance......Page 112
7 Risk and Technologies of Credit Scoring......Page 128
8 Borrowing on the Fringe: The Fate of the Risky......Page 154
9 Risk, Identity, and the Consumer......Page 174
10 “See How Lenders See You”: From Actuarial to Subjective Governance......Page 188
11 Securing the Self......Page 206
Conclusion: Taking Life......Page 224
Notes......Page 232
References......Page 242
C......Page 264
D......Page 266
F......Page 267
H......Page 268
M......Page 269
P......Page 270
S......Page 271
W......Page 272
Z......Page 273