Sociology 2172A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Supermodel, Mass Society, Proletariat
6 Mar 2018
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Consumption: the paradoxical phenomenon: many of our everyday practices are organized around consumption grocery shopping, leisure activities, price matching. Consumption is the constant process of negotiation between subjective and objective cultures, and between the individual and the social: simmel suggests fashion gibes satisfaction as one moves between individuality and conformity. Introduced several concepts that remain crucial to our contemporary analysis. For instance, when someone replaces a functioning bulk tv for a new flat-screen tv (aka it is wasteful: consumption was regarded as explicitly gendered work because women gained their own separate sphere and undertook shopping tasks. Men in this case, it was believed could not spend time on consumption as a way of maintaining a serious masculine and noble image. In addition, cultural capital can turn itself into economic capital, as those of multilingual capacities can turn themselves into cultural intermediaries across national boundaries by taking up the roles of diplomats or corporate executives.
