Consumption, Consumption Practices, and Consumerism: Definitions and the Need for Semantic Clarification

Given the various conceptualizations of the terms "consumption" and "consumerism," the identifications/confusions, and the analytical difficulties that arise when studying the phenomenon of consumption, this article attempts to conceptualize consumption in terms of social practice and consumerism as a custom and way of life in the post-capitalist, consumer-oriented condition. The proposed (ideal-typical) conceptualization of consumption practices aims to avoid preconceived negative or positive semantic attributions and to support locally sensitive studies that highlight the characteristics of these practices and the relationships they form with the world of objects, the self, others, the natural and social world, and, of course, with time and space.