Journalism 614: Opinion & Political Consumerism

1. Journalism 614:Opinion & Political Consumerism

2. Citizens and Consumers • Michael Schudson’s “post-moralist” position • Mistake to identify political action with public-spirited motives and consumer behavior with self-interested motives • Both political behavior and consumer behavior can be either public-spirited or self-interested. • Consumer opinions can be expressly political and public-spirited • Boycotting Walmart, Buying Ben & Jerry’s, or Dumping French Wine • Consumer behavior can create contexts that serve democracy • Talk: Coffee houses in 18th c. London • Informal Networks: Harley Riders, Mac Enthusiasts • Political behavior often is not public-spirited but egocentric • Voting for policies that benefit one’s own pocketbook or personal circle

3. Bourdieu & Cultural Capital • The economy of cultural goods - cultural capital • Food, drink, sports, fashion, manners, home décor, art, music, and literature - all have the ability to define • Cultural goods circulate as a form of power or capital, as markers of distinction among classes • Class status is gained and lost through consumption • We can acquire access to social circle by displaying appropriate taste, manners, culture • Consumption maintains patterns of power and inequality

4. Bourdieu’s Distinction • Great innovation was connecting cultural capital with the social practices of establishing hierarchies, maintaining distances, and legitimating class differences • “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier. Social subjects, classified by their classifications, distinguish themselves by the distinctions they make” - Distinction, 1979/1984 • But do these insights hold in 21st Century America? • What insights does blurring the line between citizen and consumer provide for research on media and opinion? • How can opinion research help illustrate these links and clarify the connections between consumption and politics?

5. Cultural Capital in America • France in the 1960s - relatively stable class structure / stratified system of institutions • US in the 2000s - consumption is less clearly the outcome of intersection of class and culture • Rather consumption actively shapes culture • Climate of opinion focuses on consumption • Media consumption particularly important • Goal of project: • Map the consumption and politics in US based on occupation, media use, buying behavior, media preferences, and indicators of civic engagement

6. Mapping the Social Space • A relational approach to consumption • Each choice is seen as a difference, a distinction, a property existing only through its gap with other choices • The social space • Relative status positions people perceive themselves to occupy, along perceptions of positions that others occupy • Typically two dimensions • Overall volume of the capital they possess • (high vs. low quantities of capital) • The composition of their capital • (relative proportion of economic vs. cultural capital)

7. Established Professionals Highly Educated Prestige News Media High Culture and Art International Travel Check and Letter Activism Environmental Community Work Executives and Sales High Income Mainstream Paper Fashion and High-End Retail Stay at Luxury Hotels Skiing, Golf, and Tennis Little Civic Engagement Service Workers Broadcast News Media Urban Sophisticates Volunteerism & Membership Ideological Moderates Social Dramas & Info TV Technicians Youthful Sports & Drink Hyper-Technological Highly Sexualized Car Magazines - SUV

8. Older Conservative Female Homemakers Church Attendance Religious Programs Moralist / Justice Dramas Local News Viewing Younger Exurban Industry & Service Rock n’ Roll Youth Media Outdoor Life Gearhead NASCAR Porn Urban Working Class Police Reality TV Black Sitcoms Discount Shopping Low-No Church Anti-Civic Gambling Low Income Low Education Live at Home Soap Operas Print Tabloids Few Civic Practices

9. Social Space in America • Many similarities to Bourdieu’s France • Especially upper right quadrant, • Communal-individual continuum forms the horizontal axis • Raw v. cooked, competitive v. nurturing, genteel v. aggressive • Importance of Gender and Age in US • Reveals elements missing from Bourdieu, who focused on men • Gender and age help define opinion, consumption, politics in US • Clear correspondence between civic behavior, political ideology, and the social positioning of taste cultures

10. Blurring Lines: The Consumer-Citizen • Growing alignment among consumptive and civic • Human Rights and anti-sweatshop • Unfair labor practices and fair trade coffee • Environmentalism and hybrid cars • Economic equality and discount designers • Patriotism and buying American • Localism and boycotting chain retailers • Anti-globalism and fast food retailers • Global poverty and health and “Red” campaign • Not less, just different - new form of participation

11. Political Consumers • Who is a socially conscious consumer and why? • Is this at odds with civic participation? Is it contradictory to status conscious consumption? • What is the role of media and talk in political consumerism? What about the Internet? • Is political consumerism really increasing, and if so, what explains change over time?

14. “Lifestyle” Politics • Find direct and indirect connections of dispositional, communication, and consumption orientations • Conventional and online news encourage political consumption through opinions and actions • Environmental concerns • Political talk • Explains cross-sectional links and over time change • Strong evidence of a meaningful relationship