CONSUMPTION AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON

2019

Вісник НЮУ імені Ярослава Мудрого: Серія: Філософія, філософія права, політологія, соціологія, Vol 4, Iss 43, Pp 53-60 (2019)

Formulation of the problem. In the processes of socio-cultural dynamics of modern society, a significant role is played by the consumption process, which is not only a marker of the development of society because it creates new semantic connections and forms a symbolic continuum of social relations, but also significantly influences the processes of personality socialization and formation of social practices. Moreover, just the discourse of consumption that creates and represents patterns of behavior, shapes values and norms that make up the socio-cultural aspect of the late-20th-the beginning of the 21st century, which they call “consumption society”. Consumerism is the ideology of “consumption society” is the dependence of the level of personal happiness and enjoyment on the value and prestige of things, that are consumed. In sociological discourse, consumption is interpreted as the conscious activity of people to construct their own identity through consumption. Analysis of recent research and publications. Consumption as a phenomenon and society of consumption as a new image of society during a long period of time has been on the focus of Western researchers, especially economists, sociologists, philosophers, the most illustrative are the works of K. Marks, M. Weber, T. Veblen (consumption is interpreted as a process of socio-economic stratification), J. Baudrillard, G. Marcuse (consumption as a symbolic exchange), P. Bourdieu (field of consumption as a lifestyle), E. Giddens (consumption as a process of identity construction), N. McCendrick, J. Brewer, J. G. Plumb, etc., among Ukrainian researchers, these issues are studied by O. Gerus, A. Doroshkevich, N. Zinchenko, O. Serdyuk. Formation of goals. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of the phenomenon of consumption and consumer practices, to reveal their influence on the processes of socio-cultural dynamics of modern society. Presentation of the main material. The concept of “consumption” has become on the focus of attention of intellectuals in connection with the philosophy of “consumption society”, which was developed by J. Baudrillard as a result of rethinking K. Marx’s theory of political economy and its replacement with the theory of symbolic objects. J. Baudrillard interprets consumer society as a practical reality that contains a “mythological dimension” in its own “objective” definition. J. Baudrillard proves that consumption is not reduced to satisfaction of needs, but encourages their production, turns into an “active mode of relation” to objective reality. Beyond consumption, it is impossible to explain human behavior. Not only goods and services are consumed, but the whole system of objects as a symbolic structure, whereby the need becomes a structural mode of productivity, and the product is reduced to values-signs, not things, but ideas of things are consumed. The specificity of the consumption process is conditioned by the influence of purposeful pressure of economic levers and the system of value determinants, which are constructed within a certain society, mainly through the media space, as well as by the fact that the objects of consumption are not material but socio-cultural objects. Significant importance is attached to the peculiarities of consumer behavior and reproduction of their consumption practices, because it is through consumption that person realizes and asserts. Conclusions. Consumption in the processes of social dynamics and social transformation becomes functional, significantly influencing the status position of the individual in the structure of social relations. It is a means of social reproduction and a marker of the individual’s position in the social hierarchy system. Through advertising and fashion, individual consumes a set of certain images and lifestyles, values and patterns, which then he reproduces in everyday practice, in communication, in social interactions. Consumption of certain goods, services is important for self-identification and self-affirmation of the individual.

article

English
Russian
Ukrainian

Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, 2019.

суспільство, споживання, суспільство споживання, соціальна ієрархія, соціальна організація, Philosophy (General), B1-5802