Young consumer citizensComparing citizenship and consumption of young generations across cultures

Lecture May 15, 2004Department of SociologyKomazawa UniversityTokyo, Japan

Henk VinkenTilburg UniversityTilburg, the Netherlands

Outline

ErosionCivic decline, loss of citizenship ? AntennaReading “signs of the times” (leisure and consumption) ReflexivityCompetence in a co-figurative, generational perspective DistinctionCounterbalancing mono-cultural concepts and analyses DiscussionAddressing the production of new forms of citizenship

ErosionCivic decline, loss of citizenship ?

Growth ‘civic decline’ studies : pessimism

Loss of trust, of citizenship (of democracy)

Major weaknesses :

lost track of new forms of citizenship ;

lack (generation) sociological imagination ;

disregard cultural and structural diversities

Debate not innocent : if true young people less committed to old forms of citizenship, but more to new forms, moral concern is gratuitous and misleading !

AntennaReading “signs of the times” (leisure and consumption)

Mainstream civil society surveys conservative

Focus on same indicators to depict trends, e.g. : voting attending political meetings becoming member of organizations playing cards visiting family

Decline or shift away from old forms of engagement ?

Society changes so do generational responses

Survey new forms citizenship of younger generations

Key domainLeisure and consumption

E.g. the Internet; demands and opportunities : c: construction meaning, multiple

cultures s: weak tie, identities of shared

interests p: new agencies, repertoires and

targets

Other consumer activities: e.g. shopping: p potency !

Other sports & cultural activities: contest apathy

Leisure and consumption new outlets for expressions political voices, sense of belonging, social connectedness

Need a mix of social science perspectives, including media, technology, and consumption with focus on generations and changing life courses

ReflexivityCompetence in a co-figurative, generational perspective

The ‘state-of-the-art’ of civil society studies : generational change most important no clue why young generations less

engaged idem positive studies: give no clue

• Arguments from youth / generation sociology : • socialization more self-directed and on self• high awareness of distinct history & destiny• leading to: a new generation

• Key concept: anticipatory reflexivity competence : • more reflxivity on future life course • more communication with intimate circles• esp. in own domain: leisure & consumption• leading to: the rise of reflexive generation

DistinctionCounterbalancing mono-cultural concepts and analyses

Dominance US-perspective on civic decline, but

Can US-malaise be generalized ?

Assess impact structural/cultural diversity :

Especially cultural diversity: underpins values (preferred state), symbols, heroes in leisure &

consumption, and socialization practices

In need of cross-culturally plausible theory and good data on civic socialization in leisure & consumption domain to validate this theory

DiscussionAddressing the production of new forms of citizenship

Key civic playing field: leisure & consumption

Key civic competence: reflexivity with intimates

Needed: interdisciplinary social science

perspective co-figurative, generational perspective cross-cultural perspective

CCGS, Consortium for Culture and Generation Studies

Please check: http://www.uvt.nl/iric/ccgs