Abstract: Economic sociology is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduced through social processes. The field of economic sociology can be separated into the sociology of markets and the sociology of consumption. The sociology of markets views markets as socially constructed arenas where repeated exchanges occur between buyers and sellers under a set of formal and informal rules governing relations between competitors, suppliers, and customers. Markets are dependent on governments, laws, and cultural understandings that support market activity. There are four bodies of work that provide different views on the mechanisms by which markets are organized: networks, institutions, political economy, and the study of market devices and the performativity of economic ideas. The sociology of consumption situates consumption in the problem of what consuming things means to people. One core idea is that consumption is about how people constitute their lifestyles. Lifestyles can be constructed in emulation of other groups or instead by competition between social groups for status. Another aspect of consumption is how morals and meanings affect what goods can be bought and sold. Scholars have explored why some products can and cannot be commoditized and how that has evolved over time.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 4
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