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Collective consumption: An ethnographic examination of consumption-focused social relations.
- Format:
- Book
- Thesis/Dissertation
- Author/Creator:
- Clapp, Justin T.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Social structure.
- Music.
- Ethnology.
- Anthropology, Cultural.
- Sociology, Social Structure and Development.
- 0326.
- 0413.
- 0700.
- Penn dissertations--Anthropology.
- Anthropology--Penn dissertations.
- Local Subjects:
- Anthropology, Cultural.
- Music.
- Sociology, Social Structure and Development.
- Penn dissertations--Anthropology.
- Anthropology--Penn dissertations.
- 0326.
- 0413.
- 0700.
- Physical Description:
- 153 pages
- Contained In:
- Dissertation Abstracts International 74-02A(E).
- System Details:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- text file
- Summary:
- This dissertation examines collective consumption: repetitive, intensive social relations focused on the consumption of a particular set of products. A theoretical orientation is established based on the cultural approach developed by anthropologists, a framework which has not yet been utilized to analyze collective consumption, but which can more easily acknowledge its complexity than can prominent models like subculture and fandom. This approach is applied to an ethnographic exploration of two cases of collective consumption: (1) the Anglo-American consumption of folk music, in which participants often combat the commodity status of their favored musical texts; and (2) the American musical activity known as wizard rock, which is predicated on the collective consumption of the Harry Potter series, one of history's most profitable sets of consumer forms. Using data gathered from these two similar-yet-different cases, the dissertation addresses three aspects of consumption-based social relations which have been the subject of prolonged debate amongst scholars and journalists. Firstly, it takes on the issue of whether collective consumption is characterized mainly by communality or hierarchy, demonstrating that a focus on the cultural norms which motivate a particular case of collective consumption can not only show where it lands on this behavioral spectrum, but precisely why it does so. Secondly, the dissertation examines the impact of commerce on collective consumption. Findings from the two case studies show that collective consumption's strong ties to the commodity nexus have no inherent effect on the nature of its interactions, despite the fears of consumption critics. On the other hand, the emphasis of many scholars on consumers' tendency to resist the commercial marketplace is also deemed unrealistic. Thirdly, the political potential of collective consumption is assessed. While consumption does not oppose political involvement, as many authors have recently argued—in fact, both of these cases show sustained political activity—the ability of consumption-based interactions to be rallied into politics is found to be fundamentally limited. In conclusion, this work's cultural approach exposes the significant variability of collective consumption, and it thus encourages more empirical research to balance the prevalent academic and journalistic theorizing on the topic.
- Notes:
- Thesis (Ph.D. in Anthropology) -- University of Pennsylvania, 2012.
- Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 74-02(E), Section: A.
- Adviser: Asif Agha.
- Local Notes:
- School code: 0175.
- ISBN:
- 9781267712615
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
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