Tales of Consumption

In this episode we discuss our varied experiences of and relationships with nature. We pay particular attention to inter-generational similarities and differences, and geographical/ cultural differences of understandings of nature.

We are joined by Christina Elvira Dahl, a research assistant, and Mathilde Hansson, a student in the Market & Management Anthropology Bachelor’s program, both from the University of Southern Denmark. They share their research on evolving garden practices in Denmark and indigenous strategies for dealing with waste in Hawaii, respectively.

References in this episode:
Douglas, M. (2003). Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo. Routledge.

Haraway, D. J. (2013). When species meet. U of Minnesota Press.

Kimmerer, R. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed editions.

Canniford, R. and Shankar, A., 2013. Purifying practices: How consumers assemble romantic experiences of nature. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(5), pp.1051-1069.

Kunchamboo, V., Lee, C.K. and Brace-Govan, J., 2017. Nature as extended-self: Sacred nature relationship and implications for responsible consumption behavior. Journal of Business Research, 74, pp.126-132.

In this episode Lez Trujillo Torres from the University of Illinois, Chicago shares her research on complex emotions and family dynamics involving covid 19 vaccines.
We also discuss, more generally, how consumption gets complicated when multiple actors experiencing varied emotions negotiate rules of engagement and boundary-making.

References in this episode:
Mimoun, L., Trujillo-Torres, L. and Sobande, F., 2021. Social emotions and the legitimation of the fertility technology market. Journal of Consumer Research.

We are joined by Tanvi Gupta and Rupali Kapoor from the Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur to discuss the interrelationships between food practices, nationhood, memory and brands.
Tanvi and Rupali share their research on Cadbury’s Bournvita drinking chocolate and how this brand as well as product has been central to many Indian consumers’ associations of childhood.
We also touch upon the postcolonial associations of certain brands and how their significations change over time.

Recommended reading:
Wilk, R.R., 1999. " Real Belizean food": building local identity in the transnational caribbean. American anthropologist, 101(2), pp.244-255.
Appadurai, A., 1988. How to make a national cuisine: cookbooks in contemporary India. Comparative studies in society and history, 30(1), pp.3-24.
Holtzman, J.D., 2006. Food and memory. Annu. Rev. Anthropol., 35, pp.361-378.
Belasco, W., 2002. Food matters: Perspectives on an emerging field. Food nations: Selling taste in consumer societies, pp.2-23.

In this episode, we try to understand how technological entanglements have been shaping contemporary family life and question our imaginings of the “normal,” happy and child-centered family.

Our two guests, Lydia Ottlewski (University of Southern Denmark) and Karin Brondino-Pompeo (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, São Paulo) share their research on online platforms through which users form parenting arrangements in Germany (Lydia) and through which parents produce and curate child-centered content in Brazil (Karin).

We also ponder upon the role (and responsibilities) of platforms and the legal and ethical frameworks that accompany family life.

In this episode we are joined by Domen Bajde from the University of Southern Denmark to discuss sports consumption. We being with a conversation around our personal interests in sports viewing and how political issues influence sports and athletes in different ways. Then Domen talks us through his project on NFTs and questions whether consumption is really changing from ‘solid to liquid’ or are we just seeing new forms of the desire for ownership.

Some references:
Fletcher, T., 2012. ‘Who do ‘‘they” cheer for?’Cricket, diaspora, hybridity and divided loyalties amongst British Asians. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 47(5), pp.612-631.
Fletcher, T., 2011. The making of English cricket cultures: Empire, globalization and (post) colonialism. Sport in Society, 14(1), pp.17-36.
Bardhi, F. and Eckhardt, G.M., 2017. Liquid consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(3), pp.582-597.
Canniford, R. and Shankar, A., 2013. Purifying practices: How consumers assemble romantic experiences of nature. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(5), pp.1051-1069.

In this episode we talk to Adjoa Ocran about her PhD research on Ghanaian celebrities.
We specifically discuss celebrity priests and how young Ghanians make sense of the concept of ‘celebrity’.

Additionally, we touch upon issues of child celebrities like Britney Spears, ‘cancel culture’ and the cannibalism of Armie Hammer, and finally, how consumption is related to celebrity culture.

In this episode we talk about how consumption plays a key role in the holiday season and why this can be problematic.

We discuss Black Friday, consumer representations, and the plight of non-celebrants as well as those who might not be feeling their best around the holiday season, situating "holiday depression" within larger patterns of "cruel optimism" and toxic positivity.

We end with some speculative thoughts on how consumers and brands can re-consider hegemonic representations and practices during the holidays.

References and reading tips:

Weinberger, M.F., 2015. Dominant consumption rituals and intragroup boundary work: How non-celebrants manage conflicting relational and identity goals. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(3), pp.378-400.

Ahmed, S. (2010). The promise of happiness. Duke University Press.

Berlant, L. (2011). Cruel optimism. Duke University Press.

Cabanas, E., & Illouz, E. (2019). Manufacturing happy citizens: How the science and industry of happiness control our lives. John Wiley & Sons.

Cvetkovich, A. (2012). Depression: A Public Feeling. Duke University Press.

In this episode, we are joined in the studio by our students Anne-Mette Buch Hansen (master’s in international business and marketing) and Mike Gotfredsen (bachelor’s in market and management anthropology).

Anne-Mette talks about her thesis research into mens’ clothing and make-up consumption that are deemed “gender-transgressive”.
Mike, who was an interlocutor in Anne-Mette's study, shares his own experiences and keen observations .

Together we discuss the changing and ever-diversifying understandings and practices of masculinity in a world where especially young people are challenging gender norms and categories, even while the marketplace and the “mainstream” are quite often lagging behind.

In this episode, we talk to Ea Høg Utoft, a most inspiring political science scholar at Aarhus University, on gender equality.

We discuss an array of instances in which women’s bodies are objectified, sexualized, and policed by society - be it with banning young girls and women from wearing crop tops to school or sport bras to the gym, or telling Muslim women not to wear religious head-covering.

Ea brings in the lens of a “postfeminist gender regime” to discuss how, in Denmark, gender inequalities tend to become buried underneath a discourse of gender-related progress, which generates a set of frustrations difficulties for women and (other) gender minorities in fighting for a more equal and equitable society.

In this episode Anuja and Alev discuss changes in consumption practices in times of crisis as well as people who try to mitigate crisis via consumption, i.e., Doomsday Preppers! We are joined by a recent Masters’ Graduate, Alix Botto, who shares findings from her thesis on dispossession processes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, Alev, Anuja and the mysterious K-man share their own consumption stories from time in lockdown during the pandemic.

References:
Akaka, M. A., & Schau, H. J. (2019). Value creation in consumption journeys: recursive reflexivity and practice continuity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(3), 499-515.

Campbell, M. C., Inman, J. J., Kirmani, A., & Price, L. L. (2020). In times of trouble: A framework for understanding consumers’ responses to threats.

Campbell, N., Sinclair, G. & Browne, S. (2019) Preparing for a world without markets: legitimising strategies of preppers, Journal of Marketing Management, 35:9-10, 798-817, DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2019.1631875

Phipps, M., & Ozanne, J. L. (2017). Routines disrupted: Reestablishing security through practice alignment. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(2), 361-380.

Türe, M. (2014). Value-in-disposition: Exploring how consumers derive value from disposition of possessions. Marketing Theory, 14(1), 53-72.

Werron, T., & Ringel, L. (2020). Pandemic Practices, Part One. How to Turn “Living Through the COVID-19 Pandemic” into a Heuristic Tool for Sociological Theorizing. Sociologica, 14(2), 55-72.