Educational Spaces of Cultural Capitalism: The Concept of Consumer Culture as a New Framework for Contemporary Educational Research

Abstract

This article introduces a specific concept of consumer culture into the international and European discussion about new concepts and categories in comparative education. Basic meanings of consumer culture are presented in reference to consumer research, consumer culture theory, and a revisited concept of world polity. In addition to general reflexions, two educational programs from UNESCO—on sustainable consumption and lifestyles, and on cultural diversity and national cultural heritage—are analyzed to show how education and educational research can benefit from the concept of consumer culture. The article proposes to conceive consumer culture as the educational space of global cultural capitalism.