Professor Currid-Halkett’s book tackles ‘inconspicuous consumption’
In her latest book, The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class, which launched in launched June 8 with a book signing in New York City, Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett identifies a new elite class that is defined by cultural capital rather than by income bracket — people who practice “inconspicuous consumption,” finding value not in flashy cars but in buying organic food, taking yoga and Pilates classes, listening to the right podcasts, and investing their children’s education. She found that by making wise decisions about education, health, parenting and retirement, this “aspirational class” reproduces wealth and deepens an ever-widening class divide.