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Viewing report
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Communities of consumption. Edition No. 1
VDM Publishing House, March 2009, Pages: 252
This book examines the role of consumption in
mediating social relations and processes of
identification. It presents a critique of theories
that suggest symbolic consumption has become the
critical feature of identity formation in late-
modern societies. The social relations within a UK
New Town are shown to be framed by economic,
cultural and social resources which shape
consumption orientations. However, these relations
are not static. The town represents a local social
world in which differentiation is articulated
through degrees of belonging to different taste
communities. Conspicuous forms of consumption become
less important as markers of belonging and
distinction depending upon the length of membership
within such communities. Those established within
taste communities identified with other residents
based on shared tacit understandings of moral and
cultural categories of distinction, rather than
having to rely on aesthetic dimensions of
consumption to achieve a sense of belonging. This
book demonstrates the significance of local-level
interactions and socio-structural constraints on
consumption orientations and identity-formation.
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