The social shaping of children's manufactured toys

Children's manufactured toys both reflect and are shaped by many aspects of our society. This thesis specifically takes up two prominent social factors in the social shaping of toys. Firstly, commercial priorities have increasingly penetrated the design of toys, this being one aspect of the corporate organisation of children's play and leisure. An integral part of this has been an emphasis on the commodity and the life of commodities into which these toys fit, which subjugates more traditional play values. The thesis provides an explanation for much of the social shaping of today's most heavily marketed and popular toys by undertaking a political economy approach to the toy industry, its objectives and the changes within the industry.