Consumer sociology is primarily about consumption as relationships, as glue in aculture. The course does not primarily see consumption as purchase, but also as use and disposal. It is the sphere of use is the subject's most important topic.

The content of consumer sociology will start a brief introduction to the history of consumption and the history of ideas. Next, the course will concentrate on sociological perspectives on the consumer where moral norms and roles limit the possibility of buying or consuming what one wants, when one wants, and with whom one wants. The moral contexts for use will be central.

The course will also look at how different classes or groups of people consume and use consumer elements to distinguish themselves from others. Consumer sociology will also look at different ways of acquiring objects, such as buying, getting (through gifts) finding, winning, stealing, etc. and the importance of acquisition to the thing. We will also go through the transformation of goods, i.e. how an object is transformed into a commodity, and then returned to an object in use.

Consumer sociology will also look at the relationship between everyday consumption, leisure consumption and how gender can have a major influence on how one shops and uses objects.

Consumer power, market power, consumer powerlessness and political consumption will also be central topics in the subject. The course will focus on the contexts in which consumers could influence their own situation, and where they do not. Finally, the ethical dimension of consumption will be treated.

Subject description FBS2102

Sociology of Consumption

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