BA_CC Consumer Culture

University of Finance and Administration
Summer 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jitka Cirklová, M.A., Ph.D.
Subdepartment of Management and Marketing – Department of Economics and Management – Departments – University of Finance and Administration
Contact Person: Dita Egertová
Prerequisites
The course is offered to students of any study field. There are no prerequisites for this course.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
Course objectives The course Consumer culture enrich the knowledge of students in the area of Sociology of consumption. Course is planed for one semestr with 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of seminar (combined form students 10 hours). Students will obtain 6 credits after succesful examination. The course focuses on the desires, values and indentities that intersect consumer practices and trends today and in selected historical periods. We approach this topic from the basic sociological assumption that there is more than just material satisfaciton to the material needs. We can ask how social, economic, politic and environmental aspects are related to the consumption culture? We are going to use sociological theories and methodology in order to understand deeper dynamic of the consumption culture.
Learning outcomes
Course objectives The course Consumer culture enrich the knowledge of students in the area of Sociology of consumption. Course is planed for one semestr with 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of seminar (combined form students 10 hours). Students will obtain 6 credits after succesful examination. The course focuses on the desires, values and indentities that intersect consumer practices and trends today and in selected historical periods. We approach this topic from the basic sociological assumption that there is more than just material satisfaciton to the material needs. We can ask how social, economic, politic and environmental aspects are related to the consumption culture? We are going to use sociological theories and methodology in order to understand deeper dynamic of the consumption culture.
Syllabus
  • Syllabus 1. Introduction: consumption and consumer culture 2. Production and consumption in pre-capitalist societies: Kula, the gift. 3. History of consumer culture 4. Mass production and mass consumption. The Fordist and post-fordist model. 5. Taste, lifestyle and class 6. Consumerism and its values 7. Spaces of consumption in urban settings. Commodification. Commodification of body: fitness culture 8. Commodification of home, feelings, and religion. 9. Brands as a refuge. Brands and identity. Social dimension of brands: brand communities. 10. Anti-consumerism. DIY. Subculture, resistance. Alternative consumption and social movement. 11. Ethical consumption. Ecological luxury. 12. Globalization and glocalisation. Commodification of cultural identities.
Literature
    required literature
  • Mauss, M. (2001 [1950]) The gift: the form and reason for Exchange in archaic societies. pp. 10-23.
  • Sassatelli, R. (2010) Fitness culture: gyms and the commercialisation of discipline and fun. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-15, 21-24.
  • Lury, C., Consumer culture. (2011). Cambridge: Polity.
  • Campbell, C. (1987). The romantic ethic and the spirit of modern consumerism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 89-92, 202-207.
  • Boltanski, L. and Chiapello, E. (2007) The new spirit of capitalism. London: Version, pp. 68-86.
  • Malinowski, B. (2005 [1922]) Argonauts of the Western Pacific: an account of native entreprise and adventure in the archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. With a Preface by Sir James George Frazer. London: Routledge, pp. 62-64, 165-167.
  • Slater, D. (1997) ʽConsumer culture and Modernityʼ, in Slater, D., Consumer culture and modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 24-36, 95-97.
  • Palmisano, S. (2013) „The Paradoxes of New Monasticism in the Consumer Society,“ in F. Gauthier, T. Martikainen (eds.) Religion in Consumer Society. Brands, Consumers and Markets, Surrey, Burlington: Ashgate, pp. 75-90.
  • Muniz, A. M. Jr. and O’Guinn, T. C. (2001) ʽBrand communityʼ, Journal of Consumer Research, 27(4), pp. 412-432.
    recommended literature
  • Wiedenhoft Murphy, W. (2017). Consumer culture and society. Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • Arnould, E. J., and Thomson, C. J. (2018). Consumer Culture Theory. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Teaching methods
Interactive lectures + focused discussions during lectures. Minimal seminar participation - 75%. Students will get three assignements, in order to prove their competencies during specific study period and to close successfully the above mentioned subject. An exam will take place in the form of discussion over student's notes on selected topics during the last week of semester. ISP students are required to contact the lecturer at the start of the semestr to set up their personal plan of consultation and deadlines for work they need to subbmit in order to complete the course.
Assessment methods
Credits are obtained against submitting 3 assignments on a selected topic (TBA at the start of the semester) and after the final exam at the end of the semester. Lectures are going to be published in IS. The areas and the topics of the final exam are going to be published at the start of the semester.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 12 hodin KS/semestr.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2017, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020, Winter 2021, Winter 2022, Winter 2023, Winter 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.vsfs.cz/course/vsfs/summer2025/BA_CC