Theme Panel: Author Meets Critics: American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon Economy

July 8, 2025 APSA Annual Meeting, Theme Panels Comments Off on Theme Panel: Author Meets Critics: American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon Economy

In-Person Author Meets Critics

Participants:

  • (Chair) Alexander Warren Hertel-Fernandez, Columbia University
  • (Presenter) Kathleen Thelen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • (Presenter) Daniel P. Carpenter, Harvard University
  • (Presenter) Margaret Weir, Brown University
  • (Presenter) Pepper D. Culpepper, University of Oxford

Session Description:

The United States is widely recognized as the quintessential consumer society, one where huge companies like Walmart and Amazon are famous for enticing customers with cheap goods and speedy delivery. In this author meets critics panel, scholars of American political development and comparative political economy (Daniel Carpenter, Pepper Culpepper, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Margaret Weir) discuss Kathleen Thelen’s new book “Attention, Shoppers! American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon Economy” (Princeton University Press 2025). This book traces the origins and evolution of American retail capitalism from the late nineteenth century to today, comparing developments in the United States with those in Europe. By placing the rise of America’s Amazon economy in a broad comparative-historical context, Attention, Shoppers! reveals how large discount retailers have successfully exploited a uniquely permissive regulatory landscape to create a shopper’s paradise built on cheap labor and mass consumption.