Managing Overflow in Affluent Societies (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

“It is simply too much” is a common complaint of the modern age. This book looks at how people and institutions deal with overflow - of information, consumption or choices. The essays explore the ways in which notions of overflow – framed in terms of excess and abundance or their implicit opposites, scarcity and dearth – crop up in a number of contexts such as sociological and economic theory, management consulting, consumer studies, and the politics of everyday life. Chapters range from studies of overload at home, at work or in the world of cyber information; strategies of coping with overflow in institutions such as news agencies; and historical comparisons. When, where, how and for whom is overflow a problem or a blessing?

Orvar Löfgren is Professor Emeritus of European Ethnology at Lund University, Sweden.

Barbara Czarniawska is Professor of Management Studies at GRI, School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, Sweden.