1 / 68

Introducing Anthropology of Consumption

Introducing Anthropology of Consumption. Dominique Desjeux, anthropologist Professor at the Sorbonne (University of Paris 5) Visiting professor at Guangzhou (China) and USF (Tampa, FL, USA). www.argonautes.fr. I - The basic principals.

novia
Download Presentation

Introducing Anthropology of Consumption

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Introducing Anthropology of Consumption Dominique Desjeux, anthropologist Professor at the Sorbonne (University of Paris 5) Visiting professor at Guangzhou (China) and USF (Tampa, FL, USA) www.argonautes.fr

  2. I - The basic principals

  3. Three methodological principals to carry out a field study on consumer behavior • Discovering the relevant scale of observation • Following an itinerary of decision making process in the home space • Distinguishing practices from representations

  4. The goals of ethnology applied to understand consumer behavior • Focusing more on practices than onmotivations, more on what is done than on what is thought • Undestanding shoping as a process, as an itinerary • Understanding Imaginary • As a structure • As a dynamic and as a social process • Showing that connection between practices and representations is not evident. • Most often there is a gap among what it is said, what it is thought and what it is done • This gap is explained by the constraints of the social life (norms, power relationships, material culture)

  5. II - The scales of observation

  6. Five scales of Observation Way of life, life style Social belonging Life cycle Macro-social scale Organizations Pressure groups Meso-social scale Social interactions Staging of self, norms, codes Practices Objects as markers of life Passages and social belonging Itinerary Micro-social scale Itinerary Micro-individual scale Individual Cell Biological scale

  7. Illustration of scales of observation in regard to consumption Macro-social scale Meso-social scale Micro-social scale Micro-individual scale Photos D. Desjeux

  8. III - At a micro-social scale of observation Culture Social relationships Material constraints

  9. Understanding the three level of constraints which weight on goods trade off • Material: size of the household space, income of the family, system of material objects • Social: conflicts, cooperation and transactions, strategies • Culture: Imaginary, religion, values, social status, meaning of objects

  10. Photos D. Desjeux 1 - Material: little space for storage • A student bedroom in 1997 at Guangzhou University: • How to cope with limited space for seven students • The position of objects depends on space as well as on culture.

  11. 2 Social : Entering a structured household space • Goods become integrated in 3 domestic spaces: • publicprivateintimate • Boundaries can be considered both as a fixed structure and a mobile phenomenon

  12. Prescribing, permitting, and forbidding uses of objects • The use of an object depends on social norms with varying degrees of formality. • These norms existed before the object and organize its uses, but they can change if the object takes on new uses. • Social rules can be transgressed. • Uses of objects are embedded in social constraints.

  13. displayed left visible hidden Objects are treated in three different ways In public 2000, USA, displaying the American flag 2004, Israel, weapons visible when shopping 2003, Algeria, hiding hair Photos D. Desjeux

  14. 2004, Israel, religious sign displayed on the door In the home 2000, USA, copper pots displayed in the kitchen 2000, France Post-its and notes visible in the entrance 1995, USA, goods hidden in the fridge Photos D. Desjeux

  15. Objects are used to express social distance or closeness • Social communication takes different forms: • face to face • phone • letters • e-mail • fax • Post-its • text messages (sms) 2001, France, “Keeping far From others” Photos D. Desjeux

  16. Phone calls: expressing a social relationships USA, 2003 Public phones and pagers in China, 1997 Photos D. Desjeux

  17. 3 – Culture. In a specific culture, the place of boundaries depends on: • Social belonging (social classes, genders, generations and cultures) • The position of social actors in all the stages of the life course • The gender and generational division of tasks and space in the household • The size of the household space • The social occasions of uses

  18. Organization of boundaries can be reinterpreted depending on the culture • A Chinese living room with: • fridge • microwave • buffet • TV • In western countries, fridges are most often in the kitchen, a privatespace Photos D. Desjeux

  19. Another example of reinterpretation from one cultural use to another American and French bathrooms: toilet paper stored in an intimate space China storing of sanitary paper in the living room, a public space Photos D. Desjeux

  20. Food reinterpretation • Pernod can be drunk without water in the UK or Cognac with ice and before diner in China • In France Pernod is drunk with water and Cognac without ice and after diner • Using chopsticks in France as decoration which are only used for lunch or diner in China • Succeeding or failing in transferring an innovation depends on these reinterpretation

  21. IV - At a micro-scale of observation The itinerary method

  22. The itinerary method Micro-social Representations Practices Itinerary Buying Receiving as a gift Stealing Mobility to shopping place Decision Domestic space Storage Use Disposal Recycling

  23. Method to build an itinerary • Photography, on-site interviews and observations • Photos of the neighborhood context • Photos of building entrance, stairway, doorway, electric wires, objects • Photos of all the rooms • All these objects can be used as analyzers of everyday life and domestic practices

  24. IV – Observations1 - A shopping and eating process in the rising middle class In China, 1997

  25. Itinerary: going shopping A shopping bag Bringing a limited amount of money It is an every day shopping process based on limited means Photos D. Desjeux

  26. Mobility to shopping place The old Guangzhou Shopping by foot Photos D. Desjeux

  27. Shopping Protecting her money In the pocket Unwrapped meat Choosing living shrimps Photos D. Desjeux

  28. Living animals as sign of quality Ready to be eaten Choosing living chicken Photos D. Desjeux

  29. Going back home Photos D. Desjeux

  30. Cooking as a long process in a small space No oven “No oven” is a good example of the importance of looking at uses when transferring a cooking innovation, such as roast beef, from one culture to another Frying Photos D. Desjeux

  31. An optimized use of space Photos D. Desjeux

  32. A collective meal Shop stick tips are displayed outside the table as hygienic practice. There is no individual Meal. Photos D. Desjeux

  33. Picking in the same bowl Photos D. Desjeux

  34. Eating No napkin Left over on the table Havingmore rice Photos D. Desjeux

  35. Washing up Photos D. Desjeux

  36. 2 - Observing meaning of objects in the home In China, 1997

  37. A busy neighborhood: an ordinary apartment building Security: Window bars Flowers on many balconies

  38. Entrance Energy: electric wires Security: Door with bars Photos D. Desjeux

  39. Living room • Displayed objects (as a sign of social relationships) • Presents in a glass case (Ceramic objects) • Television prominently displayed in middle of room (as a sign of social status) Photos D. Desjeux

  40. Living room Plastic aquarium Telephone with decorative cover Gifts Displayed objects Photos D. Desjeux

  41. Dining area • Table in the living room • Tradition respected with paintings: mountains and water symbolize wisdom • A high table rather than a coffee table as sign of modernity • Modernity and confort also shown by rice cooker Displayed object Photos D. Desjeux

  42. Living room • Exposed objects • Neon light • Ceiling fan • Electric wire • Sockets • Coffee table for receiving guests Photos D. Desjeux

  43. Kitchen: water Entrance to kitchen • Water for washing • Water for cooking • Boiled water for drinking (two thermoses) Strainer Toothbrush Faucet Photos D. Desjeux

  44. Kitchen: fire, boiled and stir fried Soup pot boiling Soup strainer Knife scissors Wok Stir frying Cutting board Sterilizer Utensiles for cutting Photos D. Desjeux

  45. Kitchen: Storage Inmportance of plastic bags and newspaper for wrapping food products Condiments for frying Photos D. Desjeux

  46. Toilet • Turkish toilet • Nowadays European toilets are a sign of social disctinction Photos D. Desjeux

  47. Bathroom • Rudimentary installation Use of body products and cosmetics on the rise Photos D. Desjeux

  48. Bedroom 1: a pleasure zone Pink bed Vanity table Stuffed animals

  49. Bedroom 1 Badminton racket (a widespread activity) Cover on conputer Desk Wardrobe Bookcase Photos D. Desjeux

  50. Bedroom 2: an ascetic area Sober colors Fewer objects Utilitarian objects (dictionary and textbooks) Photos D. Desjeux

More Related