The Anthropology of consumption

trajectory of a field in expansion

Abstract

Traditionally, in order to understand the capitalist system, the Social Sciences have concen­trated its attention on the processes that have transformed production relations, only spora­dically placing attention on reformulations noticed on demand attitude. Even so, the growth of resources available for the generation and consumption of products have generated inte­rest. The article starts by examining the traditional resistance to the theme of consumption and then asserts some important contributions that, since the second half of the 1980 s, have made possible to broaden the discussion. In order to enlighten the Anthropology of Con­sumption, we show how some of the values privileged by the Judaic-Christian cosmology on the body/soul dichotomy have historically informed the sight on the Social Sciences. The pa­per aims at demonstrating that a negative conception long bred by the Occident about the body and its desires have been present on the imaginary of the discipline, operating in its questionings. It eventually presents papers developed starting in the 1980’s understanding that, for an effective study on consumption, the goods must cease being seen as futile carriers of reprobate content, becoming then constituents of the modern culture.