THE U.S. CONSUMER MOVEMENT BEGAN AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND HAS RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A RESURGENCE. RALPH NADER HAS BEEN THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FORCE IN THE CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT. ALTHOUGH THE MOVEMENT'S GOALS DERIVE FROM THE CONCEPTS OF CONSUMER AND CONSUMPTION FOUND IN ECONOMIC THEORY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOR. THE INDIVIDUALISTIC BEHAVIOR, RATIONALITY AND COMPETITIVE MARKETS, ASSUMED BY CLASSICAL ECONOMIC THEORY CLEARLY DO NOT DESCRIBE THE SITUATION FOUND IN THE U.S. TODAY. NEVERTHELESS, THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT PERSISTS IN DEFINING ITSELF IN CLASSICAL ECONOMIC TERMS AND HAS SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH CONSUMER SOVEREIGNTY; MOST AMERICAN CONSUMERS DO NOT IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH THE RATIONAL, INDIVIDUALISTIC CONSUMER AS DEFINED BY THE MOVEMENT AND THEREFORE DO NOT RESPOND TO THE MOVEMENT'S URGINGS. MOREOVER, CONSUMER SOVEREIGNTY, A GOAL UNATTAINABLE IN THE PRESENT AMERICAN SETTING, AS IT IS ATTAINABLE ONLY THROUGH THE COMPETITIVE MARKET PROCESS, IS DIFFERENT FROM CONSUMER PROTECTION, WHICH REQUIRES GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND LIMITATION OF THE COMPETITIVE MARKET. THESE PROBLEMS EXPLAIN MUCH OF THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT'S INEFFECTIVENESS AND THE NEED FOR CHANGE IN ITS FOCUS AND EFFORTS. IN THE FUTURE, THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT SHOULD RECOGNIZE THE COMPLEXITY AND INTERDEPENDENCE CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTEMPORARY SOCITY, AND SHOULD THEREFORE DEAL WITH THE ISSUES OF PRIVATE VERSUS SOCIAL GOODS, CHOICES AMONG SOCIAL GOODS, RELATIVE SHARES OF INCOME, AND THE POWER OF LARGE ENTERPRISES. FOOTNOTES, NOTES FOR EACH CHAPTER, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND INDEX, AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ABOUT THE AUTHOR, ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)