Capitalism, Consumption, and the Transformation of Everyday Life: The Political Economy of Social Practices

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter takes the growth of the ‘global consumer class’ as a starting point and argues that a broader research agenda to make sense of consumption among new middle classes is needed. Specifically, the chapter argues that such an agenda needs to approach changing consumption patterns as the outcome of both large-scale societal transformations and local-scale changes in how people carry out mundane activities. The chapter is influenced by social practice theories but argues for combining this with a direct study of economic systems. However, practice approaches have been labelled as so far unable or even ill-suited for studying the political economy of consumption. The chapter engages with this critique and suggests ways forward, focusing in particular on the fundamentally structuring role that capitalism has on consumption patterns. This is illustrated with the case of the radical changes in consumption patterns in China and Vietnam in the past decades, after both countries embarked on market reforms. The dramatic consumption booms these countries have seen under communist regimes, traditionally highly sceptical towards a wide range of consumer goods, represent an excellent case for discussing the conditioning effects of the political-economic context on consumption patterns.