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Consumer society: the concept and phenomenological framework

Authors: Sonina L.A. Published: 01.09.2020
Published in issue: #4(84)/2020  
DOI: 10.18698/2306-8477-2020-4-672  
Category: The Humanities in Technical University | Chapter: Philosophy Science  
Keywords: consumerism, conspicuous consumption, consumer society, J. Baudrillard, T. Veblen, theory of the leisure class, surplus product

Thanks to J. Baudrillard’s work published in 1970, “consumer society” has become a concept associated with the modern era. However, this term entered the French scientific discourse before J. Baudrillard, and the very concept of consumption as a way of life was developed long before his work was published. The paper studies the emergence of a consumer society, shows whether it is an attribute of an exclusively modern era. The conclusion is drawn that the features of the consumer society are traced in ancient times, among primitive people. Further, the consumer’s intention only intensifies and in the modern era moves from the status characteristics of certain strata of society to the entire population.


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