Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First

Centre for Modern European Studies (CEMES) is proud to announce that Frank Trentmann will give a lecture on his latest book Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First (Allen Lane: Penguin, 2016).

Professor Trentmann’s lecture will be followed by comments from Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel (Directrice de recherche au CNRS – Sciences Po) and Jan Petersen (Associate Professor at the SAXO-Institute, University of Copenhagen) as well as a Q&A session.

After the lecture, there will be a reception with drinks and snacks. The lecture is open to all.

Professor Trentmann is a Professor of History in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at Birkbeck College, in the University of London.

Abstract

What we consume has become the defining feature of our lives: our economies live or die by spending, we are treated more as consumers than workers, and even public services are presented to us as products in a supermarket.

In this monumental study, acclaimed historian Frank Trentmann unfolds the extraordinary history that has shaped our material world, from late Ming China, Renaissance Italy and the British Empire to the present.

Astonishingly wide-ranging and richly detailed, Empire of Things explores how we have come to live with so much more, how this changed the course of history, and the global challenges we face as a result.

The lecture is part of the Author meets Critics series and is organized by Centre for Modern European Studies (CEMES) and European Research at University of Copenhagen(EURECO).