Communication and Identity: An Approximation to the Study of Consumption

To talk about consumer culture is to question the role that capitalist exchange, objects & their dynamics play in today's world. To understand consumption as an action of meaning & as a problem of anthropological concern brings about valuable data upon the ways in which objects circulate, what they mean, & their origin. The purpose of this article is to approach consumption as a social communication process that establishes realities & identities that are formed in, & at the same time shape new patterns of behavior & thought in our society. Consumption then is the bridge between the inanimate subject & its function in the real world; a realm where meanings are established & reproduced. We communicate through the objects we acquire, based on the ideas we consume. Adapted from the source document.