
Christopher Swader
Associate Professor | Senior Lecturer

Post-socialist moral economies of consumption as socially embedded sites of moral tension
Author
Summary, in English
Consumption was one of the spheres of everyday life shaken and remoulded by the collapse of socialist regimes at the end of the 20th century. Especially in times of rapid change, a moral economies lens is a fruitful means to understand the contentious moral landscape and moral tensions that pervade consumption behaviour, norms and discourse. Important areas of consideration in post-socialist societies in this field include links between ideology and consumption; transformations of material culture, especially luxury culture; the retraditionalisation and polarisation of gender; and intergenerational and social class divisions. Theoretically, we stress the importance of multiple levels of analysis and address both the empirical and critical dimensions of ‘moral economy’. In particular, this recognises the importance of the Zelizerian relational approach while cautioning against the hostile worlds rhetorical frame. It is through the simultaneous critical and empirical approaches of Polanyi and Thompson that an important analytical focus for post-socialist moral economies of consumption and beyond – moral tensions – is made plain.
Department/s
- Sociology
Publishing year
2019-12-01
Language
English
Publication/Series
Journal of Consumer Culture
Full text
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Topic
- Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1741-2900