Topic 1.3 Study Guide - The Meaning of Consumption Media, Culture and Consumption

Introduction

This week we will be looking at and attempting to answer a number of key questions:

• What do we mean by the terms “consumption”, “consumerism” and “consumer society”? What kinds of characteristics may be attributed to “the consumer”?
• What is it, specifically about our society that warrants it being called a “consumer society”? What is it about contemporary existence that leads us to think of a whole range of everyday, mundane activities as “consuming” rather than, say, “eating”, “entertaining ourselves”, “acquiring information”, travelling”, “socialising”, or simply “buying”? Is it the sheer amount of things we “consume”? Is it the type and range of products that are now bought and sold on “the market”? Or is it the significance of these products their (central?) place within our lives?

And if ours is specifically a consumer society, or a culture of consumption, in what way are other (previous?) societies not defined by consumption? What is it that characterises a society as something other or more (or less) than a consumer society? What does a non-consumer society look like? How does one meet one’s needs, go about one’s day — in short, live one’s life — in a non-consumer society? How do the processes of providing for one’s existence and of living with other people work in a non-consumer society and how are these different from the processes that we know?

Topic Objectives:

• Identify and evaluate competing definitions of the key terms ‘consumption’, ‘consumerism’, ‘consumer society’ and ‘the consumer’
• Debate the centrality of consumption to everyday existence
• Examine the relations between consumption and culture
• Reflect on the specific nature of contemporary consumerism and explore alternative economic systems to contemporary capitalism.

Readings

The selected readings will help you understand and address the key objectives for this topic. You can access them via the links below.

Essential Readings

This short (6 pages) chapter by Gabriel and Lang (2015) examines the different representations/definitions of the concept of 'the consumer'.

• Read this chapter ‘Introduction: The Faces of the Consumer’ (pp. 1-6) from: Gabriel, Y & Lang, T. (2015). The unmangeable consumer (3rd ed.). Sage publications.

This chapter provides an introduction and overview of the concept of the 'gift economy'.

• Read ‘Introduction to Part Five (Theory)’’ (pp. 219-226) from: Clarke, D., Doel, M. & Housiaux, K. (2003). The Consumption Reader. Routledge.

Slater (1997) discusses the links between culture and consumption in this chapter.

• Read ‘The Meaning of Things’ (pp. 131-137) from: Slater, D. (1997). Consumer Culture and Modernity. Polity.

Recommended Reading

In this journal article the authors look at the concept of the gift economy in relation to 'virtual gifting' on online platforms in China. Their discussion provides a look at consumption from a non-western perspective, and a contemporary setting to expand our exploration of the concept of the 'gift economy'.

Zhang X., Xiang, Y. & Hao, L. (2019) Virtual gifting on China’s live streaming platforms: hijacking the online gift economy, Chinese Journal of Communication, 12:(3), 340-355, DOI: 10.1080/17544750.2019.1583260

Study Questions (use the following questions to guide your engagement with the readings):

• What do Gabriel and Lang (2015) seek to achieve by introducing the concept of 'the unmanageable consumer'?
• What is the significance of Mauss’ account of the “gift economy” (Clarke et al. p. 219)? What signs are there that the gift economy remains an important component of consumer culture?
• According to Clarke et al. (2003), how does Baudrillard’s focus on “sign-value” compare with intuitive understandings of objects of consumption? What are the implications of this focus for understanding the characteristics of 'the consumer'?
• What does Slater (1997) mean when he says that “culture constitutes the needs, objects and practices that make up consumption” (p.133)? How does this view compare with other claims about the relationship between culture and consumption (e.g. the “basic needs argument”)?