Consumption and Identity
Year: 2015
Type: reference-entry
Abstract: The subject of identity concerns the interpretation of our relations with each other and with the world. Critically, the topic revolves around ways in which significant others settle questions about who we are. Where we hang out, with whom we affiliate, what we do, and what we buy are all grist to the mill of others “placing” us within the widest possible range of membership categories. While, historically, the topic was oriented toward notions of unity and belonging, tying collectivities (or groups) to place , the contemporary turn is to deploy people's consumption to read off how we can be “figured” by others in our day‐to‐day conduct. Hence more modern meanings extend to cover a more individuating politics of identity that requires us to perform our relations in ways that make us “visible and available” to those with influence and power.
Author: Rolland Munro
Institution: University of Leicester
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1541536068