The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies

Veblen, Thorstein

JUSTIN L. SCHUPP

Kenyon College, USA

DOI: 10.1002/9781118989463.wbeccs233

Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857–1929) was a US economist and sociologist who is often credited for the introduction of the concept conspicuous consumption to the academic lexicon. Veblen was also a major contributor to the field of institutional economics and was noted as being a witty and eccentric critic of the dominant forms of economic systems during his lifetime. He was one of the leading voices of the Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) where he wrote extensively about what he viewed as a wasteful production system that was focused too much on personal consumption of goods.

Veblen was born on July 30, 1857 in Cato, Wisconsin to parents who had recently immigrated from Norway. He spent most of his youth on a farm in rural Minnesota where his family put an emphasis on hard work and education – themes that Veblen focused on throughout much of his work later in life. He was married twice, and had two stepdaughters. Veblen attended numerous institutions, including John Hopkins, Yale, and Cornell, where his academic interests extended to several different disciplines, including philosophy, history, sociology, and economics. The works of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer had a significant influence on him as he considered how evolutionary processes could be applied to human societies. He utilized evolutionary principles to theorize how economic systems developed over long periods of time.

Veblen ...