{"id":178,"date":"2025-10-14T09:17:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/sociologyofeverydaylife\/?post_type=content&p=178"},"modified":"2025-10-15T09:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T09:49:49","slug":"chapter-5","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/sociologyofeverydaylife\/students\/chapter-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5 \u2013 Shopping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chapter 5 \u2013 Shopping<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Chapter Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This chapter examines a key activity in consumer culture: shopping. After learning a bit about the history of shopping, we look at the broader social context that shapes our individual desires, motivations, and values. This topic raises questions of consumer agency: are we consumer dopes manipulated by corporations to buy brand-name products, or are we consumer heroes who have full sovereignty over decision-making? We also examine the role shopping and consumer culture play in establishing social order, drawing from sociological concepts like social solidarity and anomie. Shopping offers insight into how we come to feel part of social groups, as well as the isolation that can accompany our modern emphasis on individualism. We may shop to feel a connection with others, but at the same time, shopping may exacerbate feelings of isolation. For that reason, some scholars see shopping as a social problem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Further Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Zukin, Sharon and Jennifer Smith Maguire. 2004. \u201cConsumers and Consumption.\u201d Annual Review of Sociology 30(1):173\u201397.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharon Zukin and Jennifer Smith Maguire explore consumption as a social, cultural, and economic process. They discuss the rise of mass consumption through innovations in retail spaces and advertising, highlighting how consumer goods and sites democratize desire while reinforcing social hierarchies. The authors emphasize the role of consumption in identity formation, where individual choices reflect broader social structures and cultural capital. They also examine how consumption shapes collective identities, such as ethnicity and nationality, while providing opportunities for both conformity and resistance. Finally, they analyze historical transitions to consumer societies, particularly in post-socialist regions, where structural changes have made consumption central to modern life and global dynamics .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion questions<\/summary>\n