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A Labour Force for the Consumer Century: Commodification in Canada's Largest Department Stores, 1890 to 1940

Resource type
Author/contributor
Title
A Labour Force for the Consumer Century: Commodification in Canada's Largest Department Stores, 1890 to 1940
Abstract
Between 1890 and 1940 Canada's three largest department stores -- Eaton's Simpson's, and the Hudson's Bay Company -- developed a multifacted system of employee commodification. Not only did they encourage their employees to become avid consumers, so did they market their employees' activities, interests, and bodies. They undertook these commodiyfing gestures in an attempt to extract value from their workforces. Investigating the rise and operation of commodification at these major retailers, this paper offers new insights into corporate management systems, demonstrates that commodification had negative consequences for employees, and provides fresh perspectives on 20th-century consumer capitalism.
Publication
Labour / Le Travail
Volume
58
Pages
107-144
Date
Fall 2006
Journal Abbr
Labour / Le Travail
ISSN
07003862
Short Title
A Labour Force for the Consumer Century
Accessed
4/23/15, 6:17 PM
Library Catalog
EBSCOhost
Citation
Belisle, D. (2006). A Labour Force for the Consumer Century: Commodification in Canada’s Largest Department Stores, 1890 to 1940. Labour / Le Travail, 58, 107–144. http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/5417