Outline the View That a Consumer Society Is a Divided Society
To understand how a consumer society could be seen as a divided one I am going to look at some evidence and theories from a number of different sources. In these views we will examine arguments put forward by some social scientists as to how they see this consumer society being a divided one, and some of the reasons why this might be the case. We will look at the evidence they have used to come to up with their theories and the explanation as to why this consumer society is divided. We will also touch on one of the many roles supermarkets can play in creating a divided consumer society, and how a lack of effective consuming can affect a person’s status, a change from the past when a job was seen as a marker to someone’s social standing.
Author Kevin Hetherington (Material Lives, consumer society?) tells us that in a consumer society we are defined by what we buy, as much as by what we do for a living. We are also told how consuming is not simply done out of need, but also out of a want to express ourselves and give others an impression of who we are through what we own. Consuming is now a social activity as much as a personal one, we consume how and what we do to feel a sense of belonging or acceptance to a particular social group (Hetherington, 2009). This evidence is a good starting point in discussing how a consumer society is divided. The points the author puts across here are directing us to the fact that consuming is a pivotal part of modern day life. Taking part in this consuming is a vital social activity, those who do it correctly project themselves to a high status in society, while those who do not have a lesser standing. Another important point put across is that consuming is not simply down to how much you earn, instead many other social factors come into play when dictating how a person can consume. Income, education, family and friends, social expectations, role of retailers and the...