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POLITICAL CONSUMERISM 279

are compatible with social justice, economic explanations, I progressively add new dimen-
equity, protection of the environment and sions to the analysis to show how acts of con-
democracy. This is a vast programme, cer- sumption may be theorized in different ways.
tainly not ‘new’, but employing a repertoire Thus, I start with market research and con-
of collective action that hopes to be a sumer studies that conceptualize consumer
response to the current phase of capitalism acts as apolitical expressions of individual
(global, financial and oligopolistic). autonomy. A second type of research, coming
The use of the economic market as an from American rural economic sociology,
arena for social demands gives rise to a cer- proposes an interpretation that incorporates
tain number of questions about the definition the social determinants of consumerism – the
of political action and spaces of political reg- social imaginary and representations, as well
ulation. Indeed, how can economic acts such as the territorial systems of food production,
as producing, selling and buying, always the- distribution and consumption. A third
orized as being apolitical, now constitute a approach, from political science, considers
political demand? How can the slogan the purchase and boycott of goods and
‘buying is voting’ have the massive mobiliz- services as non-conventional political parti-
ing effect that it now does? A considerable cipation, in other words as an adjustment, a
number of social science works have studied response, a shift in the locus of power and an
the use of the economic market as an arena of expression of reflexive individualism. This
social and political protest. In this article, approach, although interesting as a theoriza-
I would like to contextualize work that has tion of political acts, nonetheless, proposes a
focussed specifically on understanding acts conceptualization of the individual that strikes
of ‘responsible consumerism’ (also called me as disembodied and under-socialized. This
ecological consumerism, or political con- is why, before concluding, I offer several
sumerism) in the food sector. In this way propositions to tie the study of consumer
I wish to demonstrate that, in these projects, practices to the sociology of collective
the theoretical limits to political action are action.
not clearly established and that consequently
it is difficult to distinguish between purchas-
ing behaviours resulting from changing
social tastes and those due to the espousal of CONSUMER SOCIETY UNDER ATTACK
a political position. It is even more difficult
to establish a link between the evolution of Consumer society is a relatively recent con-
social taste and the adoption of a political figuration of social relations, a result of rapid
position. Thus, the question arises as to advances of industrial and capitalistic logic
whether the purchase of ‘ethical’ products within all spheres of social relations. The
really constitutes a political act or whether history of its development reveals the dis-
this is instead part of the logic of social dis- semination by different stakeholders in
tinction, ‘ethical’ products generally being global capitalism of an ideology of domestic
rarer, of better quality and more expensive. reproduction by the consumption of goods
Finally, I wonder if participating in a con- purchased outside the household (Herpin,
sumer movement which is critical of norms 2001; Princen, 1999: 348). Through techno-
of production and product characteristics is logical progress and the market economy, this
an act of collaboration with the system of ideology promises the attainment of happi-
mass consumption or a genuine act of protest ness, personal emancipation and the elimina-
against this system, a protest that is being tion of social and economic inequalities, as
expressed in a new arena. well as suffering and war. On the other hand,
The article is developed in successive thinkers of the Frankfurt School quickly
layers. Starting with the most individualistic highlighted the alienating character of this