SOC317H5 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Capitalism, Conspicuous Consumption, Third World
Document Summary
De-naturalizing consumer society: most of the things we buy are necessities, wants can quickly become needs, wants and needs closely overlap, cellphones, consumer culture has an ambiguous relationship between wants and needs the overlap happens unconsciously. Ford was a pioneer of this system of manufacturing; first to vision of mass consumption and production society; Mcdonalds: americanisation american culture dominates other cultures. Consumers are often not conscious defensive consumption buying things to fit in with social standards of a group; can be socially stigmatizing not to have things other have; luxuries become necessities distinction - Sociologists classify humans as omnivores; dilemma for omnivore choice can be overwhelming, choices can be used be manipulated by corporations s for profit, most of our choice consist of pseudo-foods. Mcdonald"s: cultural relativism and ethnocentrism, cultural relativism principle that one should understand one"s practices, values and norms based on criteria from that one"s own culture, instead of an imposing an external idea of what is.
