‘The wild and wacky worlds of consumer oddballs’

Abstract

The article starts with the assumption that the research community of consumer culture theory (CCT) is materially experienced and negotiated in its continuous rhetorical construction. Here, we use the concept of manifestos to analyze the fragile dialectics of a rhetorical and social praxis. In two manifestary moments in the historical development of CCT, we compare how manifestos materialize the transitions from individuals to the linked subjects by a shared relation to 'the other'. The analysis shows how the 'we' of yesterday was written differently from how the 'we' of the present and the future requires to be articulated. This sense of 'we-ness' is then connected to the changes in the internal and external layers of the academic environment. We conclude that to ensure a sustainable, dynamic development of CCT that avoids disintegration as well as eroding subjugation and stasis, a balance between radical and pragmatic voices has to be established. This balance incorporates the idea that power and knowledge are dynamically intertwined. In this sense, 'we-ness' is not a utopian final state, but a permanent necessity for CCT that emerges out of struggles and engages in conflicts.

Mapping the absence: a theological critique of posthumanist influences in marketing and consumer research

“…While we do not disagree with the theorising outlined above, we also believe that subtler forces than surface ideologies are at play here. What we suggest instead is that the growing interest in the various posthumanist tendencies exhibited by marketing and consumer research scholars is not necessarily dictated primarily by a tendency to jump on the bandwagon of the new 'cool' things coming from other social sciences or humanities (Bode & Østergaard, 2013;Cova et al, 2013;Patterson et al, 2008). Rather, we claim that the adoption bares striking similarity to age-old theological ideas.…”

The queer manifesto: Imagining new possibilities and futures for marketing and consumer research

“…In this cautionary tale, these queer radical forces remain at the borders of the canon, vocalising an ‘unbecoming’ ideology. Unlike what was envisioned by Bode and Østergaard (2013), the two authors of this paper are not organising the mutiny of radical fringes. Instead, we catalyse our wild and wacky energy to do some ‘carpentry’.…”

“…In the fictional scenario outlined by Bode and Østergaard (2013), the unity of the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) community is endangered by a group of queer theorists contesting the hegemonic logic of the discipline. In this cautionary tale, these queer radical forces remain at the borders of the canon, vocalising an ‘unbecoming’ ideology.…”

A consumer culture theory perspective of the marketplace: An integrative review and agenda for research

“…Coskuner-Balli (2013) defends CCT legitimacy by exploring different practices through which CCT can gain social and cultural legitimacy: (1) mobilizing cultural myths; (2) code-switching; (3) creating market resources; and (4) community building. Bode and Østergaard (2013) link CCT legitimacy to forms of discourse, by equilibrating radical with less radical discourses. A theoretical reflection on the status of CCT research is also offered by Cova et al (2013), who focus on the perspective of how communism can help rethink Consumer Culture F I G U R E 1 Historical overview of CCT Theory.…”