Lauding the Leisure Class
Symbolic Content and Conspicuous Consumption
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9256118 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan Shipman (0000-0002-7126-5466, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 277-289 |
| Publication date | 2004-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Review of Social Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6764 • E-ISSN: 1470-1162 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0034676042000253909 |
| OpenAlex | W1996806575 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 22 |
| References cited | 18 |
Symbolic consumption is assessed as an evolution of previously identified conspicuous consumption, after this has undergone a “de-materialization” that is socially, as much as ecologically, driven. As Veblen observed, the shift of wealth towards new forms of physical and financial capital with industrialization compels traditional wealth-holders to redefine privilege in terms of cultural capital. Accompanying social changes enable them to do so. The limited reproducibility of items consumed for their symbolic value, and slow transmissibility of the means of symbolic consumption, force holders of new wealth to compete for status on terms set by the established leisure class. Conspicuity shifts from quantity to quality, from the appropriation of materially valued products to the appreciation of culturally valued products. This paper examines some key implications of a shift from “waste” to “taste” in conspicuous consumption for the social and natural environment, and for economic development. In particular, it explores the possibility of branded products representing the mass production of symbolic goods in high-income economies; and the brand premium's potentially beneficial consequences for global income distribution, when branded production relocates to lower-income economies in conditions of free trade
Appropriation · Conspicuous consumption · Consumption (sociology) · Economics · Economy · Market economy · Neoclassical economics · Social science · Sociology · Taste · Veblen good · Social and Cultural Dynamics
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Make, mend and befriend
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Geographies of comsumption
Taste in the platform age
Exploring Socio‐Psychological Drivers and Pathways of Sustainable Fashion Consumption
Clarence Ayres, Ayresianos e a evolução do institucionalismo Vebleniano
Beyond luxury consumption
Sliding-scale environmental service payments and non-financial incentives
The new economy as a gateway to leisure travelling
A cross cultural comparison between Chinese international and Australian domestic visitors on evaluation of luxury seaplane services
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Appropriation, beliefs, and inculcation
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Political-Economic Coalition among Entrepreneurs, Professionals, and Cadres in Guangdong, China
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Standing out in the Crowd
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Distributive Justice With and Without Culture
The general theory of employment, interest, and money
Global finance at risk
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Bandwagon, Snob, and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumers' Demand
Distinction
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Poverty and Public Celebrations in Rural India
The Distaste of Taste
"Mr. Cummings's Strictures on "The Theory of the Leisure Class
Veblen, Bourdieu, and Conspicuous Consumption
Bowling Alone
Consumer Culture and Postmodernism
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| Unique citing works | 22 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,1 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2025 (20) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 22 |