In 1899, MIT chemist Ellen H. Richards (1842–1911) instigated a series of annual “Lake Placid Conferences” (1899–1908) that became known as the foundation of the home economics movement. Richards’s first interest was in improving the household’s well-being by using sanitary and nutrition sciences, an objective that was passed on to the movement. However, by the 1920s, home economists rather identified their field of expertise as the “science of consumption,” emphasizing the idea of “rational consumption.” My aim in this article is to give an account of how this shift in focus came about, by telling the story of the home economics movement founded by Richards. I examine how the movement problematized consumption by highlighting its relationship, and perception of itself, regarding economics. I argue that the concept of consumption was central to the structuring of the movement from its beginning and allowed home economists to claim it as their field of expertise because, as they believed, economists were not addressing the issue.

中文翻译：

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艾伦·理查兹的家庭经济运动和消费经济的诞生

1899 年，麻省理工学院化学家 Ellen H. Richards（1842-1911 年）发起了一系列年度“普莱西德湖会议”（1899-1908 年），这成为家政运动的基础。理查兹的第一个兴趣是通过使用卫生和营养科学来改善家庭的福祉，这一目标已传递给该运动。然而，到 1920 年代，家庭经济学家宁愿将他们的专业领域确定为“消费科学”，强调“理性消费”的概念。我在这篇文章中的目的是通过讲述理查兹创立的家政运动的故事来说明这种焦点转移是如何产生的。我通过强调其与经济的关系以及对自身的看法来研究该运动如何将消费问题化。