SOC480H1

Sociology of Consumption

The sociology of consumption studies how acquiring, using, taking in, and displaying goods and services organize social life and express meaning. It asks how tastes and lifestyles signal identity and belonging while also drawing lines of distinction tied to class, gender, race, and generation. Scholars analyze how markets, media, brands, and digital platforms shape desire and everyday routines—and how consumers, in turn, shape those institutions. They trace the moral and political dimensions of consumption (from “ethical” shopping to stigma and shame), as well as the material infrastructures and global supply chains that make consumption possible and unequally distributed. Overall, it’s about linking what people buy and do with wider patterns of culture, power, and inequality.