Dimensões do consumo na vida social

Abstract

This work presents a reflection about consumption and consumer society, drawing a panel of the formation of consumer society and the transformations that characterize it in the modernity. For this, questions such as the concepts of consumption and consumerism, the consumer culture and the consumption of culture, as well as main strategies for the attribution of meaning to objects that guides the consumer in modern society are addressed. To enable the achievement of the goal of uncovering the multiple approaches and the various meanings of consumption, in the light of different social theories, it also sought empirical evidence of these in a research held with individuals socioeconomically classified as belonging to class C of Society. This survey was held by the method of focus group and from the data it generated, was proposed and developed a categorization of the dimensions that consumption can assume in social life, through a systematization of the theoretical material compared in perspective with the obtained results. This categorization of the social dimensions of consumption was based on theories and different authors, organized on the following topics: consumption as part of self identity, consumption and needs, consumption and pleasure, consumption and citizenship. Theoretical and empirical data have shown, in this way, the significant role of the consumption in social life, being established the same on interface with the most diverse facets of society.