SOC 316(F) Consumer Society and Its Critics in the Modern World
In the age of Byron, to speak of consumption meant to refer to the tubercular disease. Today, the term "consumer society" hardly requires explanation... or does it? This course will approach the notion of consumption and consumerism from a critical sociological and historical vantage point. What do we mean, exactly, by "consumer society," and are there non-consumer societies in the modern world? Why have both consumption and the critiques of consumerism become so prominent in the 19th and 20th century, and how are they evolving today? What are the philosophical and religious traditions that underlie the various takes on consumption? What interests, investments, and ideologies are at stake in the debates about the "proper" way to consume? The course will draw on texts from sociology, anthropology, history and geography, as well as on the analysis of mass media and film, in order to discern the consistent themes and approaches to framing consumption, and to place them in wider debates about the nature of modernity. We will explore money, fashion, advertising, tourism, shopping and culture-jamming in places as varied as nineteenth-century France , postsocialist Hungary and contemporary America , critically examining how various groups grapple with consumer abundance and its effects on society. In doing so, we will pay equal attention to the politics of consumption (the way in which seemingly free and independent consumption choices play a role in the system of global capitalism) and to its symbolic element: the role of consumer practices in creating and articulating identities, building relationships and creating solidarities.
Format: seminar. Requirements: Class participation, one small group presentation, consumption blog, annotated bibliography and research statement, and a term paper.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 16). Open to all students, preference given to anthropology and sociology majors. This course is part of the Critical Reasoning and Analytical Skills initiative.
Hour: SHEVCHENKO