Consumer Culture
(1997), Celia Lury
1.
How is the concept material culture defined by Lury in her text?
2.
Why is the concept useful?
3.
How is it related to the concept immaterial culture? Is it a
contradiction? Why/ why not?
4.
How does Lury relate consumer culture to poverty
and Inequality? What can the study of poverty tell us about consuming practices
in the West?
5.
Explain the following quote on page 13: “…a
culture may be dominant even if most people can only aspire to participate in
it: its dominance is felt to the extent that people’s aspirations, their hopes
and fears, vocabulary of motives and sense of identity are defined in its
terms.”
6.
What’s Douglas and Isherwood definition of
consumption?
7.
What is the role of Rituals in consumer practices?
Can you give some personal examples pertaining to these rituals? (You may use
the examples provided on pages 14-16 to guide your answer.)
8.
Explain in your own words Sahlin’s notion of
totemism in relation to consumer culture. Can you think of an example
pertaining this notion that applies to the consumption of goods and commodities
associated with Latin American cultures?
Open Veins of Latin
America (1971 [1997]), “Introduction: 120 Million Children in the Eye of
the Hurricane” (pp. 1-8) Eduardo Galeano.
1.
Investigate what the Division of Labor is. How
is the DoL related to the history of Latin America, according to Galeano?
2.
What does Galeano means when he says: “Our [Latin America’s] defeat was always
implicit in the victory of others…”?
3.
Who are these 120 million children in the eye of
the hurricane mentioned by Galeano and why is it important to consider them in
the overall history of Latin America? Can you think of a way to connect this
with consumption?
4.
According to Galeano, what is the inherent contradiction
of development and the “perfectly rational” capitalist system?
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