Making choices is part of virtually every aspect of our lives, from what to buy and where to live to whom to love, what profession to practice, and what to believe. But the ability to choose in such matters was not something that we always had or even aspired to historically.
Today everyone from marketing gurus to psychologists warns about negative consequences stemming from a focus on making choices. Not only are most people not very good at realizing their desires, many are also overwhelmed with too many possibilities and anxious about what best to select. There are social costs too.
Historian Sophia Rosenfeld explores how, between the 17th century and the present, the practice of making choices from menus of options came to shape many aspects of our existence, from consumer culture to human rights. Rosenfeld discusses the lives of women—who often have the fewest choices and who have frequently been the drivers of this change—as she examines how reproductive rights became a symbolic flashpoint in the contemporary struggles over the association of liberty with choice. She draws on sources ranging from the latest findings in economics and psychology to novels and restaurant menus.
Rosenfeld is the chair of the history department at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book The Age of Choice (Princeton University Press) is available for purchase.
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