Course Description and Objective

This course is best defined as the sociology of consumption. The course examines the growth of the ‘consumer society’, by questioning how people’s accumulation of material objects and leisure pursuits inform or work to construct their identity. It has been argued, within the sociology of consumption, that the aestheticization of everyday life has led to an increasing interest in the presentation of an image and the construction of a lifestyle, which is not formed around need, but for individuals to demonstrate their membership within particular social groups. The sociology of consumption, therefore, moves beyond a sociological analysis of production – the experience and effects of paid employment- to one of consumption. While the majority of the course, and its subsequent readings, are informed by a symbolic interactionist paradigm, the course will also introduce you to a number of other interpretive theorists and theories on consumption. The concepts of ‘consumer culture ’ and ‘consumer society ’ are central to unlocking some other mysteries of contemporary societies. This course focuses on theories of consumer culture, with an aim to situate and make sense of these theories as part of the broad development of social thought over the modern period. We will draw on a number of ethnographic case studies to investigate fundamental social categories that have been closel