Does Consumption Create New Social Divisions?
Outline the claim that consumption creates new social divisions.
Modern society has changed in many ways over the years. This essay will focus on new and old social divisions to establish how society has transformed, outlining how consumption creates new social divisions. Hetherington (2009, p13) defines consuming as: “The acquisition, use and disposal of goods and services. This subject is important in terms of indicating how society is changing in fundamental ways. Evidence for this Essay is taken from the works of commentators, core text and from independent research. Given the constraints of the assignment this paper shall consider three principal areas, which consist of; fiscal, class and business influence.
These Three areas are only a segment of what consists of modern consumerism and how these create new social divisions. Fiscal looks at how the rich are favoured in a consumer society and the less fortunate can be subject to social exclusion. Secondly are the classes and whether classes are as important to us today and how images are portrayed through the things we buy. Finally how the influence of supermarkets and other commercial enterprises, which are trying to dominate the market and the affect they are having on societies. Zygmunt Bauman, argues that we are now living in a predominantly consumerist society rather than an industrial society. Even though both societies show inequalities the ones that become apparent in a consumer society are different from those previously apparent (Hetherington, 2009). In the present day we still have an affluent upper class, who are able to consume more effectively, nevertheless consuming has become an essential part of many peoples identities. This reflects on how people see themselves and how others see them, which is portrayed by the things they buy and services they use. It appears to be more common, as anyone with a secure job or steady income earn enough money to buy more than their basic necessities,
Modern society has changed in many ways over the years. This essay will focus on new and old social divisions to establish how society has transformed, outlining how consumption creates new social divisions. Hetherington (2009, p13) defines consuming as: “The acquisition, use and disposal of goods and services. This subject is important in terms of indicating how society is changing in fundamental ways. Evidence for this Essay is taken from the works of commentators, core text and from independent research. Given the constraints of the assignment this paper shall consider three principal areas, which consist of; fiscal, class and business influence.
These Three areas are only a segment of what consists of modern consumerism and how these create new social divisions. Fiscal looks at how the rich are favoured in a consumer society and the less fortunate can be subject to social exclusion. Secondly are the classes and whether classes are as important to us today and how images are portrayed through the things we buy. Finally how the influence of supermarkets and other commercial enterprises, which are trying to dominate the market and the affect they are having on societies. Zygmunt Bauman, argues that we are now living in a predominantly consumerist society rather than an industrial society. Even though both societies show inequalities the ones that become apparent in a consumer society are different from those previously apparent (Hetherington, 2009). In the present day we still have an affluent upper class, who are able to consume more effectively, nevertheless consuming has become an essential part of many peoples identities. This reflects on how people see themselves and how others see them, which is portrayed by the things they buy and services they use. It appears to be more common, as anyone with a secure job or steady income earn enough money to buy more than their basic necessities,
References: Allen, J. (2009) ‘One-stop shopping: the power of supermarkets’, in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University Bauman, Z Hetherington, K. (2009) ‘Consumer society? Shopping, consumption and social science’, in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University.