Society and consumption

Abstract

This article discusses themes identified as aims and objectives of Consumption and Society, reflecting on connections between the journal’s two titular concepts. It contrasts two distinct definitions and understandings of consumption, as purchase via market exchange and as the use of goods and services. It argues that the latter provides a more suitable and comprehensive object for social scientific study. Briefly reviewing the legacy of the cultural turn, the article outlines socio-cultural approaches emphasising symbolic, material and practical culture, and identifies some common failings. It considers the role of consumption in domination and social hierarchy in the context of escalating material inequality. Revisiting the relation between consumption and economic production, it commends some recent advances in the analysis of commodification while proposing a more encompassing ‘modes of provision’ framework. In association with an extended concept of social embeddedness, this offers an avenue for understanding macro-social change and the effects of current and historic inequalities. The concept of ‘controversy’ is introduced to understand normative and institutional contexts of mobilisation for change arising from contestation over consumption. The article concludes with remarks about theory and the difference that definitions make, the value of the concept of social embeddedness, and the analytic space beyond culture and markets.