Consumption in the context of social provisioning and capitalism: beyond consumer choice and aggregates

The chapter builds on Lee’s conception of the economy as a whole and discusses consumption as a process that is part of social provisioning under capitalism. Lee’s (2011) heterodox model manifests linkages among essential components of the economy as a whole: that is, (1) history and the social fabric are linked to the economic model of the social provisioning process, (2) agency is linked to structures, and (3) social provisioning is linked to social activities. The concept of social process facilitates such theorizing of the economy. The first section introduces the concept of social provisioning while stressing some analytical differences this conceptualization makes for theorizing consumption. The second section delineates a number of features of the capitalist economy that affect analyses of consumption. The third section discusses consumption as a social process. Finally, the chapter concludes by drawing implications for heterodox economics