The Theory of the Leisure Class
Also known as The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions
Thorstein Veblen's 1899 critique of conspicuous consumption and the class exempt from productive work.
At a glance
Key ideas
The leisure class, Evidence of wealth, not wealth, Vicarious leisure …
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- Veblen argues that the business owners of his day engaged in conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure.
- These activities contribute nothing to producing useful goods, which is done by the middle and working classes.
- He traces such behaviour back to tribal and feudal divisions of labour, where hunting and war carried status.
- Against the economics of his time, he treats people as pursuing status rather than utility.
Why it matters
- Published in the Gilded Age, it coined conspicuous consumption and first suggested the Veblenian dichotomy of institutions and technology.
Key facts
- Author
- Thorstein Veblen1
- Published
- 18991
- Origins
- Three articles in the American Journal of Sociology, 1898–18991
Key ideas
-
The leisure class1
Members of the upper class who are exempt from productive work.
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Evidence of wealth, not wealth1
Leisure and display, not accumulation, confer social status.
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Vicarious leisure1
The leisure of wives and servants as evidence of the master's wealth.
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Survival of the barbarian past1
Status display survives from a predatory, tribal stage of society.
Connections
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