Consuming Revolution

Abstract

Studies on the politics of consumption often focus on identity issues and interpret particular consumer choices as political resistance. Applying Althusser’s and Williams’ theory on ideology, this study uses multiple methods of qualitative inquiry to investigate the politics of red tourism in China and to examine whether such a consumption practice can be interpreted as a political act of resistance to capitalism. A close look at red tourism suggests that it is intended to be a hegemonic tool of the government to further subordinate the country’s middle class whose inherent political agency continues to be weak. However, members of the middle class bring their own fresh concepts of consumer sovereignty to their red-tourist experiences. This study concludes that consumption, such as red tourism, reinforces both political agency and political subordination. Such a paradoxical finding suggests researchers of consumption and ideologies, such as socialism or capitalism, need to bring a nuanced approach to understanding the complex relationship between consumption and politics.