The 1890s and the 1930s were periods of intense consumer activism
during which organized consumers pressured government to regulate
business on behalf of the consuming public. In both periods, however,
the heightened awareness of the consumer had an impact that extended
beyond the realm of grass-roots activism or government regulation. One
of the areas profoundly affected by this heightened awareness was
political–economic thought. In both periods, political–economic theorists
turned their attention to the consumer, debating such issues as whether
humans were fundamentally producers or consumers, whether civic
identity should be rooted in the consumer or the producer identity, and
whether the “good society” was one based on “producerist” or
“consumerist” values.