13317

To Buy or Not to Buy? The Politics of Consumption in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Patricia Hertel

Hinweise für Studierende

Please note: The final deadline for research papers is the 15 August 2024. Oral exams (only modul 3) take place between 8th and 17th July.

Kommentar

Calls for the boycott of certain products and the conscious decision to buy others express the values of modern consumer societies. They are closely linked to the development of our industrialized, globalized society and its political and social structures. Historical examples include the disdain for sugar produced by slave labor in the late eighteenth century, the appeals for boycotts as political instruments used by the trade unions in the nineteenth century, as well as the avoidance of South African fruits during the apartheid era and the fair-trade movement in the twentieth century. Each of these campaigns was based on consumers’ desire to express their personal values through their purchases and to influence political and social processes. This seminar examines the relationship between consumption and politics based on case studies from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It focuses on the respective aims of each of these campaigns in their historical contexts, analyzing the semantics and iconography involved as well as how they spread at the local and/or global level. In which cases did consumer boycotts help to achieve political goals? In which cases were they primarily a symbolic expression of certain attitudes and beliefs? The seminar thus reflects the role of collective consumer behavior as a method of political participation or self-assertion in modern societies. For activeoral participation the moderation of a session in groups is required. Please note: The final deadline for research papers is the 15 August 2024. Oral exams (only module 3) take place between 8th and 17th July. Schließen

14 Termine

Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung

Mo, 10:00 - 12:00 14 Termine

Mo, 15.04.2024 10:00 - 12:00

Dozenten:
Prof. Dr. Patricia Hertel