John Storey:

　　Professor Rongxiu of the Media and Cultural Research Center of Sandlan University in the United Kingdom;

　　Research field: cultural theory and public culture;

　　Representative works: "Introduction to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture", "Cultural Consumption and Daily Life", etc.。

We each will consume，Consumption and shopping is not the same meaning，Whether you eat it、Drink、Reading、Watch TV，Still visit the gallery，These are consumer。We have already been involved in all aspects of consumption，Everyone is consumers。Why is consumption is an important sociological concept? There are two reasons，First，Consumption behavior can help us analyze between people，and the interaction between people and the surrounding world，And this interaction is becoming more and more important for our survival。Next，The concept of consumption and "agent" is related to，What people do，instead of how they are，Or what they can do。

Before the critical attention of consumption，People think that the meaning and use of things are determined by their production methods or their own simple and silent material.。But the new consumer concept has challenged this way of thinking，Consumption is not silent or predictable production endpoint。People bet365 Play online games redefine it as an activity、A process，Definition as a thing related to use and meaning，This is the way most people intervene in culture。Therefore，Different from some very influential views，We should not take things used for consumption as consumption itself。Everyone may know，In a specific social environment，Our reading will increase or decrease，But the content of this and we read、Reason for reading，There is a way to read，Even the effect after reading has nothing to do with。People’s consumption methods are different from what they consume.，It is like the purpose and meaning of books，It can not be determined by classification of content that available reading，and it should be determined by the acquisition of things and its own use and meaning。The emergence of consumer concepts in sociology，Just to challenge such a view and attitude，Want to understand the sociological concept of consumption，Then you must first consider it as the result of the theory。

Consid by Capital Economics，Consumption is a theory，It's just pretended to be a description。"Reasonable Economy" is the core question of many economic theories。"He" —— Few people use "her" to refer to，It is a consumer based on rational and own interests，In fact, these options determine the final output。In many aspects，It is regarded as a universal answer to capitalist economics。Although consumption is the basis of the capitalist economic structure，But this does not mean that bet365 Play online games consumption can be simplified into a single economic event。

At least two reasons can refute this view。First，There are many forms of consumption，There are many even not involved economic exchange，For example, borrow a book from the library、Visit attractions、Drink water in public drinking water、Receive gifts, etc.。Next，From a sociological perspective，Consumption is not only a simple event，It is no longer the moment you get things，but a series of moments in the whole process。The process of consumption includes at least four aspects，Why consume、What to consume、How to consume、What is the result of consumption，These are independent moments in this variable process。The process of considering what books and books are different，Buying books and reading is also different，Writing a book or discussing the content of the book with friends is different。The starting point and end point of capitalist economics are purchasing behaviors，But if we regard consumption as a process，Then you must consider other moments other than buy。For example，The process of looking for books in a bookstore，In fact, it is a selection process、A process of actively seeking consumer things，Maybe it involves the time of purchase。If I buy a book，Then take it home to read，The behavior of reading is the third time，and the fourth time is to write something after reading，or with family、Friend、Treasures to discuss their own opinions。Results obtained and possess，is what people may care，Bet365 lotto review combine it with memory，It is deemed to have an factual facts。In this process，Not all moments will have the same activity，For example, the behavior of payment，There will be different in different consumption processes。During the consumption process，It is not necessary to have something to be consumed by something。If we think that consumption is a pure economic activity，So it only exists at the moment you buy，And only defined by the exchange value。But after we bought something，The consumption process will not stop。These moments except buying make consumption a part of culture，Because at these moments，Consumption only starts to be related to social functions and meaning in production，Therefore, a series of social and personal purposes can be achieved。

What we consume and consumption will serve our own identity or the identity we want to be。Consumption may be used to create and maintain a special lifestyle，You can get comfort when you lose，Or to celebrate success in some symbolic way、Commemorative achievements，Can meet our needs and desires，Can provide material conditions for our dreams，It can be a sign of social gap and class status。This looks like，Consumption is no longer the research object we originally met。

Different according to "discourse"，Consumption can also exist in different forms。According to Foucault's theory，"Dialogue" has three forms: Create、constraint and composition。He explained that "discourse" is the practical process that bet365 Play online games systematically constitutes the object of the object that people say，Academic subjects are a kind of "discourse"，They all have to make it、constraint、Establish three elements，The theoretical framework of each discipline will discuss the research objects in a specific way。In this process，It will make it and restrict your own words，But not only that，By constructing it into a special research object，It can form a specific reality，The true meaning of the object。So when we involve consumer time in different "discourse"，It seems to become completely different research objects，Because it is for a specific theoretical method，Only the "discourse" is explained。Although this does not mean that it cannot exist independent of these words，Just say in these words，It exists as a specific research object，Whether it has constructionability，It depends on the structure of the discourse field，For example, a time to buy、Social practice、Some of the cognitive formation、Show of cultural capital，Even the process of medium。This does not mean outside these words，Consumption will not exist。On the contrary，The existence of the consumption of the research object depends on the conditions of these messy events。Therefore，When different theoretical methods construct a different understanding of consumption as a research object in the discourse，The understanding of consumption is naturally different。

Accumulation or pursuit of profit is the inevitable bet365 live casino games requirement of capitalism，Capitalism is not limited to satisfying desire，It must create desire。If you do not increase consumption，It cannot regenerate itself，Therefore, we must do our best to redefine us as consumers living in consumer society。Although we cannot confuse consumption and consumerism， But still to be admitted，Consumption occurs in a specific historical background，That is capitalist consumer society。Marx distinguishes the general production method from a specific historical production method。He thinks，The general production method is common to all social conditions，It is not affected by the historical figures of human beings，But the facts that humans need to produce are always closely related to specific production methods in history。Humans have never stopped production，But the production method is changing with history，In other words，Slave production methods and capitalist production methods are different。If we consider from the perspective of consumption，Then there will also be a similar conclusion，That is, there is a general consumer mode，There is also a specific consumption mode，Human beings will consume from beginning to end，Just in different historical periods，Our consumption method is different。

Now，We for consumption、Consumption Practice，The attitude of consumer desire is a production mode formed with the historical development of capitalism。Simply put，Consumerism is the consumption Bet365 lotto review of the capitalist version，It is a special historical consumption method，It is unique to capitalist historical production methods。