Consumer Culture and Society

Description

Consumer Culture and Societyoffers an introduction to the study of consumerism and consumption from a sociological perspective. Author Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy 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. Opening chapters provide a theoretical overview and history of consumer society and featured case studies look at mass consumption in familiar contexts, such as tourism, food, and higher education. The book explores ethical and political concerns, including consumer activism, indebtedness, alternative forms of consumption, and dilemmas surrounding the globalization of consumer culture. Foreword and Acknowledgments......Page 12 About the Author......Page 14 Chapter 1. Introduction: Historical Context and Theoretical Tensions......Page 15 Situating the Study of Consumption......Page 16 Situating the Origins of Mass Consumer Society in the United States......Page 17 Production and Consumption......Page 20 Freedom and Coercion......Page 22 Consumers and Citizens......Page 23 Organization of the Book......Page 26 Part I. Conceptual Framework......Page 29 Chapter 2. Objects of Consumption: Commodities and Mass Consumer Society......Page 30 Post-Fordism: Craft Production and Niche Consumption......Page 31 Use Value and Exchange Value......Page 34 Sign Value......Page 35 Appropriation and Social Relationships......Page 37 Gifts......Page 38 The Biography of Commodities......Page 39 Obsolescence and Waste......Page 41 Smartphones......Page 44 The Commoditization of Everything?......Page 45 Conclusion......Page 47 Chapter 3. Subjects of Consumption: Passive Dupes or Active Agents?......Page 48 Veblen: Conspicuous Consumption and Leisure......Page 49 Bourdieu: Taste, Habitus, and Cultural Capital......Page 50 The Birmingham School: Bricolage and Resistance......Page 52 The Frankfurt School and the Culture Industry......Page 54 Children as Consumers......Page 56 Sovereignty and Choice......Page 58 Desire and Difference: Colin Campbell and Postmodernism......Page 60 Conclusion......Page 62 Chapter 4. The Places and Spaces of Consumption......Page 63 The City, Arcades, and Department Stores......Page 64 Shopping Malls and Big-Box Stores......Page 67 Wal-Mart: Killing the Category Killers?......Page 69 Service Workers......Page 71 Amazon.com and E-Commerce......Page 72 The Privatization of Public Space......Page 75 Conclusion......Page 77 Part II. Applying the Conceptual Framework: Case Studies......Page 78 Chapter 5. Food......Page 79 Industrial Food Chain......Page 80 Organic Food Chain......Page 81 Local Food Chain......Page 82 Raw Milk......Page 84 Class and Status Relations......Page 86 Ethnic and National Identities......Page 87 Eating In......Page 89 Dining Out......Page 90 Supermarkets......Page 91 Conclusion......Page 94 Chapter 6. Tourism......Page 95 Economic Development and the Tourism Industry......Page 96 Cultural Commodification and Objectification: Souvenirs and Sex Tourism......Page 97 Passive Gazers or Embodied Actors......Page 100 Searching for Authenticity or Fun......Page 102 Disney World: Authentic or Imagined Fun?......Page 104 National Parks: Staged or Natural Authenticity?......Page 106 Conclusion......Page 109 Chapter 7. Higher Education......Page 110 A Field of Struggle......Page 112 Corporate Colonization......Page 114 Human Capital and Credentials......Page 117 Social and Cultural Capital......Page 118 Evaluating the Product of Higher Education......Page 120 Students as Consumers......Page 121 Disengaged Consumers and Ignorant Citizens......Page 122 Conclusion......Page 124 Part III. Ethical Concerns and Consumer Activism......Page 125 Chapter 8. Political Consumerism and the Consumer Movement......Page 126 Consumer Tactics: Boycotts and Buycotts......Page 128 The Consumer Movement......Page 131 Political Consumerism: A New Era......Page 133 The Fair Trade Movement......Page 134 Green Consumerism......Page 136 Conclusion......Page 141 Chapter 9. Credit and Debt......Page 143 Liberalization of Financial Markets and the Credit Industry......Page 144 Debtor-Creditor Relationships......Page 148 Debtor Default and Settlement......Page 150 Pawn Shops......Page 153 Debt Forgiveness and Relief......Page 154 Conclusion......Page 157 Chapter 10. Alternative Forms of Consumption......Page 158 Frugality, Sacrifice, Austerity, and Postmaterialism......Page 159 The Voluntary Simplicity Movement......Page 161 Do-It-Yourself Movement......Page 162 Local Currency Movement......Page 163 Bitcoin......Page 165 Consumer Cooperatives......Page 166 Collaborative Consumption and the Sharing Economy......Page 168 Co-Creation, Presumers, and Prosumption: Free Consumer Labor......Page 171 Reduce, Reuse, and Dematerialism......Page 173 Conclusion......Page 175 Chapter 11. Conclusion: The Globalization of Mass Consumer Culture......Page 176 Globalization and Localization......Page 177 Mecca Cola......Page 180 China: Global Brands and Belonging......Page 182 India: Nationalism and Resistance......Page 186 Conclusion......Page 190 References......Page 192 Index......Page 235