Consumption And Consumption Theory

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Throughout history the connection between consumption and capitalism has played an integral part towards social changes that have occurred. As society changed so did the theories used to explain why these changes seemed the way they were. The sociology of Consumption has been rooted within sociological theory since its earliest days for example from Karl Marx’s ideas of utilisation of use-values (Marx, Engels and Arthur, 1972). However even within in these roots the influx of research only began to occur within last few decades. The sociology of consumption provides another route in which theorists can study society. As Marshall (1998) believed that sociology theory had for a long time been eclipsed by theories such as alienation and social class to name a few that are constantly being used to explain the basics of the social order and conflict with it. Although consumption has grown within the last few decided it’s not an easy term to define as there is not a standardised definition as many people believe when talking about consumption they already understand what is meant by the world. However it’s more likely they understand the word in terms of what it means to “consume” as the majority of society consumes on a daily basis.

Consumption is frequently described and defined in a reductive manner through the terms “purchasing, obtaining and the using of goods and services”. (Clarke, Doel and Houslaux, 2003). However consumption is more than that it can generally defined as what people and households do with their income when trying to increase their social status through specific types of purchases (Veblen, 2005 and Campbell, 1987). Consumption spills into many areas of sociological theory as well as providing explanations of h...

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...d subject. The overall opinion is that yes Veblen, Bourdieu and Baudrillard all do have some flaws but that fact that they can still be applied to today’s society decades and even longer in relation Veblen, even though they may not 100% fit within a modern 21 century culture. The biggest term that has survived and does not seem to be going anywhere is ‘conspicuous consumption as it has long be relevant within communities today. It is also an efficient method in which society can use the term to describe the bias that is apparent when individuals are status seeker with in consumption. Therefore, even though consumption is a broad topic and can link into many other subjects other than sociology it can be understood through the works of Veblen, Bourdieu and Baudrillard. However they are just a stepping stone there are numerous theories out there and more being created.

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