Consumer culture and society / Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wiedenhoft Murphy, Wendy A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects.

Consumption (Economics).

Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects--United States.

Consumers.

Consumer behavior.

United States.

Physical Description:

xv, 254 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, California : SAGE Publications, Inc., [2017]

Summary:

Consumer Culture and Society offers an introduction to the study of consumerism and mass consumption from a sociological perspective. It examines what we buy, how and where we consume, the meanings attached, to the things we purchase, and the social forces that enable and constrain consumer behavior. Key Features, The opening chapter gives a historical and conceptual context to consumption, documenting the rise of mass consumption in modern society and summarizing recent theoretical and empirical work on the importance of consumption and consumers. Part I establishes a conceptual framework for the book, discussing the objects and subjects of consumption and the public and private spaces where consumption takes place. Part II provides case studies of consumption in three familiar domains of social life: food, tourism, and higher education. Part III addresses ethical concerns and consumer activism, such as boycotts, the morality of debt, and the voluntary simplicity movement. The book concludes by exploring the globalization of consumer culture in general and specifically the rise of consumerism in China and India. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction: Historical Context and Theoretical Tensions 1

Historical Context 2

Situating the Study of Consumption 2

Situating the Origins of Mass Consumer Society in the United States 4

Positioning the Concept of Consumption: Tensions and Contradictions 7

Production and Consumption 7

Freedom and Coercion 10

Consumers and Citizens 12

Organization of the Book 14

Part I Conceptual Framework

Chapter 2 Objects of Consumption: Commodities and Mass Consumer Society 21

The Production of Commodities 22

Fordism: Mass Production and Consumption 22

Post-Fordism: Craft Production and Niche Consumption 23

The Value of Commodities 25

Use Value and Exchange Value 25

Sign Value 26

The Meaning of Commodities 28

Appropriation and Social Relationships 28

Gifts 30

The Biography of Commodities 32

Obsolescence and Waste 33

Smartphones 36

The Commoditization of Everything? 37

Conclusion 39

Chapter 3 Subjects of Consumption: Passive Dupes or Active Agents? 41

Emulation, Distinction, or Rebellion? 42

Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption and Leisure 42

Bourdieu: Taste, Habitus, and Cultural Capital 44

The Birmingham School: Bricolage and Resistance 46

Passive Dupes? 48

The Frankfurt School and the Culture Industry 48

Children as Consumers 51

Utility or Hedonism? 53

Sovereignty and Choice 53

Desire and Difference: Colin Campbell and Postmodernism 56

Conclusion 58

Chapter 4 The Places and Spaces of Consumption 59

The City, Arcades, and Department Stores 60

Shopping Malls and Big-Box Stores 63

Wal-Mart: Killing the Category Killers? 65

Service Workers 68

Amazon.com and E-Commerce 69

The Privatization of Public Space 72

Conclusion 75

Part II Applying the Conceptual Framework: Case Studies

Chapter 5 Food 79

Food as an Object of Consumption 80

Industrial Food Chain 80

Organic Food Chain 82

Local Food Chain 83

Raw Milk 85

Food and the Subjects of Consumption 87

Class and Status Relations 87

Ethnic and National Identities 90

Food and the Places of Consumption 91

Eating In 91

Dining Out 93

Supermarkets 95

Conclusion 97

Chapter 6 Tourism 99

Tourism and the Objects of Consumption 100

Economic Development and the Tourism Industry 100

Cultural Commodification and Objectification: Souvenirs and Sex Tourism 101

Tourism and the Subjects of Consumption 105

Passive Gazers or Embodied Actors 105

Dark Tourism 107

Searching for Authenticity or Fun 108

Tourism and the Places of Consumption 110

Disney World: Authentic or Imagined Fun? 110

National Parks: Staged or Natural Authenticity? 113

Conclusion 117

Chapter 7 Higher Education 119

Higher Education as a Place of Consumption 121

A Field of Struggle 121

MOOCs 123

Corporate Colonization 124

Higher Education as an Object of Consumption 127

Human Capital and Credentials 128

Social and Cultural Capital 130

Evaluating the Product of Higher Education 131

Higher Education and the Subjects of Consumption 132

Students as Consumers 132

Obstacles to Future Consumption and Becoming an Adult 134

Disengaged Consumers and Ignorant Citizens 135

Conclusion 136

Part III Ethical Concerns and Consumer Activism

Chapter 8 Political Consumerism and the Consumer Movement 141

Political Consumerism: A Brief History 142

Consumer Tactics: Boycotts and Buycotts 142

The Consumer Movement 146

Political Consumerism: A New Era 147

The Fair Trade Movement 149

Culture jamming 151

Green Consumerism 152

Conclusion 158

Chapter 9 Credit and Debt 161

Liberalization of Financial Markets and the Credit Industry 162

Debtor-Creditor Relationships 166

Debtor Default and Settlement 170

Pawn Shops 172

Debt Forgiveness and Relief 174

Conclusion 177

Chapter 10 Alternative Forms of Consumption 179

Frugality, Sacrifice, Austerity, and Postmaterialism 180

The Voluntary Simplicity Movement 182

Do-It-Yourself Movement 183

Local Currency Movement 184

Bitcoin 186

Consumer Cooperatives 187

Collaborative Consumption and the Sharing Economy 188

Co-Creation, Presumers, and Prosumption: Free Consumer Labor 191

Reduce, Reuse, and Dematerialism 194

Conclusion 195

Chapter 11 Conclusion: The Globalization of Mass Consumer Culture 197

Globalization and Localization 198

Mecca Cola 202

China: Global Brands and Belonging 203

India: Nationalism and Resistance 207

Conclusion 212.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781483358154

1483358151

OCLC:

946075965