Call for Papers!!
Karvan-e-Fikr, the Subject Association,
Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Invites you to contribute papers for a
Students’ Seminar
On
The Coming of Consumer Society
as part of the Sociology Academic Fair, Karvan-e-Fikr 2011-12.
Tentative Dates of Students’ Seminar: 14th & 15th March, 2012
Last Date for Submission of Papers: 1st March, 2012
(Word Limit: 5000)
Last Date for Submission of Abstracts: 24th February, 2012 (extended from 15th February)
(Word Limit: 300)
Send your entries to: karvanefikr@gmail.com
Concept Note for the Seminar
The transition from industrialism to consumerism over the last century cannot be called a simple change in technologies and relations of production but signifies a far deeper shift in the very manner we conceive and understand our societies today. There is no doubt that our material ‘needs’ are very different from that of the preceding generations. But this change in our material worlds is not simply about the nature of our needs or the way we fulfill them but about a whole new way we imagine ourselves as ‘species beings’. It represents the onset of another form of social organization that shakes the very roots of who we think we are, or the way we think of ourselves in relation to others. The earlier intellectual language has been replaced by a new lexicon of consumerism, signaling that the consumer society has finally arrived and come into its ‘own' .
This has been accompanied by a simultaneous shift in the focus on the class analysis embedded in production relations to those defined by consumption. Much of the burgeoning interest in the this new consumer society remains influenced by the classic Marxian ideas about commodity fetishism, false needs and the relationship between use value and exchange value – be it in its favor or against. A host of other theoretical perspectives, nuanced by postmodernism, cultural studies, and feminism have equally enriched and modified our understandings of the underpinnings between capitalism and consumerism. In fact, ‘consumerism’, together with terms like ‘postmodernism’ is one of the most important terms to have populated theoretical debates about the socio-political nature of late capitalist society, its identity politics, the so-called “new world order”, the mass media and representation, and about that slippery concept of “culture”. Consumerism in its current form is the single greatest symbol of the all-encompassing scope of capitalism. Some would even argue that the phenomenological truth grounding all these concepts is the fact of consumerism itself. Whether one attacks it or celebrates it, its significance is accepted by all.
So is consumerism then simply the act of going to the supermarket and buying what you evidently do not ‘need’? Or is it a state of mind, where alienation has reached such a point that any sustained and productive engagement within our social worlds has become impossible? Is there a need to resist it? Or has resistance itself become an object of consumption, up for sale in the media created spectacle society?
In the present scenario, consumption is not so much about needs (eating, clothing, transportation, entertainment) but rather a statement of ‘lifestyle’, ‘status consciousness’, and ‘distinction’. The global restructuring of commodity production since the 1970’s has led many cities to adopt ambitious consumption based economic development in their downtowns and waterfronts. This raises a gamut of questions for observers and students of society. The ‘collective consumption’ and the ‘leisure class’ of earlier historical epochs is supplanted by the growing ‘felt’ need for individualization and differentiation leading us to ponder over the very fundamentals of socio-political and economic organization of contemporary societies. The corridors that consumer society throngs are the new media, the world of advertisements and the virtual superhighways. So do shopping malls, supermarkets and entertainment parks, the infrastructure of this consumer world, enshrine a new ‘sociality’ instead of ‘community’?
This student seminar is meant to bring together the many themes of consumer society which may be philosophical, abstract and theoretical. We especially welcome papers with critical inputs informed by empirical insights. It is open to students from all streams at graduate, post-graduate and research levels.
Some of the suggested themes are:
1. Theorizing consumption by engaging in classic and contemporary intellectual debates
2. The role of media, the popular culture and the middle classes
3. Symbolic economies with emphasis on globalization, new world economic order
4. Spaces of consumption and their impact on cities
5. Gender and consumption; body and sexuality
6. Role of public policies such as economic reforms
The above themes are only indicative and papers on other related and relevant themes would also be considered. We regret that no TA/ DA will be paid to the participants due to paucity of funds.
Rules and Guidelines:
i. The seminar is open to all Bachelors, Masters, M.Phil., Ph.D students from any discipline.
ii. The paper must be original.
iii. Please refer to the Concept Note for an explanation of the theme.
iv. Submissions are to be sent to karvanefikr@gmail.com
v. The papers will be selected on the basis of the abstract as well as the final paper (see below), and the selection of the papers will be done by an expert panel consisting of the faculty of the Department of Sociology, JMI.
vi. Paper Presentation – Time limit: 15 min
vii. Submissions after the stipulated deadlines will not be entertained.
viii. Abstract –
The abstract that one submits must represent the proposed paper in what is under study, why it is important, and how the author plans to approach the issue. The author must briefly describe the theoretical underpinnings as well as the empirical substantiation of their formulations.
ix. Paper –
The papers should have a strong grounding in theory and literature about the issue they take up. A sound understanding of the debates surrounding the choice of topic is integral to making a significant contribution to the issue in question. The work must also have a strong referent in social reality. Papers based on empirical work will be preferred.
For further details, contact: Bhumika - 9810928194, Shahzad Ali - 9810833981, Qadeem – 9990926883, Ajaz – 9015732723
