Outline of a Theory of Practice.
About: This article is published in Contemporary Sociology.The article was published on 1980-03-01. It has received 14683 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Practice theory.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a sociological perspective to question the validity of critiques of consumer culture and examine what it may mean to "escape" from consumerism, using an example from a marginalized African community deprived of the means of consumption.
Abstract: This article uses a sociological perspective to question the validity of critiques of consumer culture. First, the author examines the debate over whether consumers possess true freedom of action, reviewing problems critics find in the notion of “agency.” Second, the author proposes that anticonsumption ideology is class-based, anachronistic, and sometimes confuses consumption with materiality. Third, the author examines what it may mean to “escape” from consumerism, using an example from a marginalized African community deprived of the means of consumption. The notions of “the market” and “marketing” are reviewed as institutions and practices with ancient roots that assume varying forms in different cultural contexts rather than as sources of pathology. Finally, the author suggests that marketing and consumerism may be enlisted for the practice of citizenship and engagement in progressive political action.
134 citations
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01 Jan 1991
134 citations
TL;DR: The authors introduce a transliteracies framework to account for the contingency and instability of literacy practices on the move and offer a set of methodological tools for invective analysis of such practices.
Abstract: This article introduces a transliteracies framework to conceptually account for the contingency and instability of literacy practices on the move and to offer a set of methodological tools for inve...
134 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the meaning of intracommunity gifting in the context of the post-Katrina New Orleans community celebration of Mardi Gras and found that it gives prominence to the logics of the moral economy while still drawing from those of the market economy.
Abstract: Consumer research on gifting has primarily focused on the interpersonal meanings and behavior patterns associated with dyadic gifts that are specifically given from one individual to another and in which the central goal is interpersonal relationship maintenance. Yet we find another type of gifting when community members in one social position give to community members in another position in which the central goal is intracommunity, rather than interpersonal, relationship work. This ethnographic research details the ritual practices, structural components, and meanings associated with intracommunity gifts employing the empirical context of the post-Katrina New Orleans’ community celebration of Mardi Gras. Through this context, we detail how intracommunity gifting gives prominence to the logics of the moral economy while still drawing from those of the market economy. Beyond this context, we use our conclusions about the intersection of the market and moral economies to understand contemporary ambivalence ...
134 citations
TL;DR: The author uses the empirical example of educational continuation to show that poor and nonpoor youth differ in their educational aspirations and that these differences can predict school continuation six years later.
Abstract: New cultural approaches to the study of poverty treat “culture” as providing the means for action and neglect the classical concern with motives for action. The author argues that though this paradigm shift has led to many important and interesting discoveries, it has also created blind spots that prevent a more complete understanding of how culture shapes action. After arguing that values, attitudes, and other motive concepts have been unfairly excluded from the new cultural pantheon, the author uses the empirical example of educational continuation to show that poor and nonpoor youth differ in their educational aspirations and that these differences can predict school continuation six years later. The findings are interpreted with an eye toward synthesizing “old” and “new” approaches to the study of culture and socioeconomic disadvantage.
133 citations