This collection of high quality, largely previously published essays, analyses a range of controversies in the field of the sociology of culture and consumption. Campbell made a major contribution to the development of this field and he has a clear and coherent theoretical position which he employs to comment on interesting disputes among scholars seeking to understand consumer culture.
Containing a brand new expansive essay reflecting on consumption in the age of a pandemic and drawing out some of the conceptual and practical implications of the relationship between wants and needs, science and norms, this synthesis will be an invaluable resource for students and researchers of consumption, consumer and cultural sociology.
Author(s): Colin Campbell
Series: Consumption and Public Life
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 245
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
1 Introduction
2 The Desire for the New: Its Nature and Social Location as Presented in Theories of Fashion and Modern Consumerism
Introduction1
The Veblen-Simmel Model
The New, the Innovative and the Novel
Origins of the Novel
Conclusion
References
3 Consuming Goods and the Good of Consuming
Modern Consumption
The Problem of Consumerism
A Hedonistic Approach
Modern Hedonism
Daydreaming
The Spirit of Modern Consumerism
Consumerism and the Counterculture
The Goods of Consumerism
Is Consumption Good for Us?
4 Conspicuous Confusion? A Critique of Veblen’s Theory of Conspicuous Consumption
Conspicuous Consumption as Distinguished by an Intention, Motive or Instinct
Conspicuous Consumption as Distinguished by a Consequence, Outcome or Function
Conclusion
References
5 The Meaning of Objects and the Meaning of Actions: A Critical Note on the Sociology of Consumption and Theories of Clothing
Introduction
The Meaning of Objects vs the Meaning of Actions
A Matter of Choice
Conclusion
References
6 Shopping, Pleasure and the Sex War
The Results
Interpretation
Consumption as a ‘Feminine’ Activity?
lmplications
Male and Female Ideologies of Shopping
Conclusion
Equal but Different?
The Future Is Female?
References
7 Consumption and the Rhetorics of Need and Want
Introduction: The Need and Want Rhetorics
Origin and Location of the Two Rhetorics
Need and Want Discourses in Theories of Consumption and Society
The Need-Want Rhetorics in Academic Discussion
The Rhetorics of Need and Want in Consumption
The Situated Rhetorics of Consumption: The Case of Gender
Food Versus Non-food Shopping
Conclusion
8 I Shop Therefore I Know That I Am: The Metaphysical Basis of Modern Consumerism
Introduction
The Nature of Modern Consumerism
Ontology and the Search for Meaning: Identity as Defined by Desire
‘I Shop Therefore I Am’
A Consumerist Epistemology
The Search for Ontological Security
A Consumerist Ontology
The New Age World View and a Consumerist Metaphysic
Conclusion
References
9 The Craft Consumer: Culture, Craft and Consumption in a Postmodern Society
Introduction
Social Thought and the Concept of Craft
The Rejection of the Consumer as Dupe
What Is Craft Consumption?
Appropriating, Personalizing, and Customizing
Personalization
Customization
Subversive Customization
Craft Consumption as Ensemble-Activity
Collecting as Craft Consumption
From Customizing to Craft Consumption
Craft Consumption and the Larger Culture
Why Does There Appear to be a Growth in Craft Consumption?
Conclusion
References
10 The Curse of the New: How the Accelerating Pursuit of the New Is Driving Hyper-Consumption
Introduction
Three Forms of Consuming the New
Replacement-Driven Consumption of the New
Disposable Replacement Consumption
Out-of-Use Replacement Consumption
Innovation-Driven Consumption of the New
Fashion-Driven Consumption of the New
Summary
The Causes of Hyper-Consumption
Can Turning to Embrace the Old Slow the Advance of the New?
How Valuing the New Is Central to Western Civilization
What Can Be Done About This Accelerated Consumption of the New?
References
11 A Matter of Necessity: Reflections on Need and Want in a Time of Lockdown
Introduction
Consumption and the Need/Want Dichotomy
False Needs
Do People Know What They Need?
Absolute Poverty and Basic Needs
Needs and Relative Poverty
Norm Versus Expert Definition of Need
Need but Not Want
Turning Wants into Needs
Turning What Is Needed into What Is Wanted
What Life Under Lockdown Has Taught Us About Need
The Need for Clean Air
The Need for Contact with Nature
The Need for Community
The Need for Internet Access
Conclusion
References
Index
