Henna Syrjälä

Conceptualizing non-voluntary anti-consumption: A practice-based study on market resistance in poor circumstances

This study presents a novel conceptual illustration of the non-voluntary anti-consumption practices that evolve in poor circumstances. The study brings a complementary and contrasting perspective to current discussions on anti-consumption by clarifying the understanding of non-voluntary anti-consumption practices and market resistance. Three conceptual elements—hidden, repressed and innovative—are identified to characterize non-voluntary anti-consumption practices; these elements are different from those of voluntary anti-consumption, which are collective, active and/or self-expressive. Applying the social constructivist practice-based approach, the analysis shows how the three types of non-voluntary anti-consumption practices—engaging in simple life, mastering consumerism and exploiting systems—are intertwined with other social practices and how they enable the poor to hold agency.

Object Agency of a Living/Non-Living Animal Entity: The Case of Horse/Horsemeat

Abstract Purpose The current study sheds light on non-human object agency by drawing illustrative examples from a case of horse/horsemeat, and thereby captures the ways in which living and non-living animal entities have shifting effects and/or intentions in relation to human entities within heterogeneous networks of cultural resources and practices. Methodology/approach Leaning on the post-human approach, the case of horse/horsemeat provides an illustrative empirical entry point into exploring how by looking through the lenses of object agency one can deconstruct the prevailing anthropomorphism-based dualistic views of living and non-living domestic animals as subjects or objects. Findings The paper argues that by contemplating both the living horse and non-living horsemeat as ontologically shifting and co-constructive entities in relation to human subjects, we are able to elaborate the contradictions and convergences of object agency that appear in living and/or non-living co-consuming units. Social implications The study showcases important aspects of animal welfare, addressing the effects of shifting from a human-centred perspective to a post-human view on equality between various kinds of entities. Originality/value This paper contributes to the discussions of non-human object agency, addressing the issue from the perspective of an animal entity, which enables participating in deconstructing dualisms such as subject and object as well as living and non-living. In particular, it highlights how in the case of an animal entity, agency may emerge in terms of effects and (some capacity of) intentions both within living and non-living entities.

A semiotic analysis on cultural meanings of eating horsemeat

Purpose Drawing on food consumption research and human-animal studies, this paper aims to explore how the meanings related to a living horse may be transferred to those of horsemeat. This is accomplished by constructing a nuanced understanding of how different semantic meaning categories of accepting/avoiding consuming horsemeat relate to each other. Design/methodology/approach The current data are collected from various sources of media discussions, including online news, online discussion forums, blog postings and printed articles, generated in Finland after the year 2013. The data are analysed applying Greimas’ (1987) semiotic square to open up the semantic meaning categories appearing in the media discussions. Findings The semiotic square shows that the meanings of horsemeat arise between the binary oppositions of human-like and animal-like. In this structure, the category of human-like makes eating horsemeat impossible, whereas the category of animal-like makes horsemeat good to eat. The main categories are completed and contrasted by the categories of not human-like and not animal-like. They represent horsemeat as an acceptable food, but only after certain justifications. Research limitations/implications The data are based on Finnish media texts, and therefore, the identified categories are interpreted in this specific cultural context. Originality/value The current semiotic analysis adds to the existing food consumption research by shedding light on the cultural barriers that make something edible or inedible. By so doing, the findings present a more nuanced and dynamic understanding of the horse as a special kind of meat animal and the justifications for eating horsemeat. Consequently, the findings offer new insights concerning changing food consumption behaviours into a more sustainable direction, pointing out the hidden meanings that influence this process.

PRIDE Silenced pride in scarce consumption

In the sixth century ad, Gregory the Great described pride as the root of all seven deadly sins (Timpe and Boyd 2014). Since that time multiple definitions of pride have been offered by the ancient classical and religious philosophers, and more recently by psychological scholars (Belk 1983). To synthesize prior elaborations, Caywood and Langrehr (1990, p.56) define pride as a sin, as “a high opinion of one’s own qualities, achievement or possessions” and connect it with arrogance, self-importance, and egoism. Contrary to the “sinful” viewpoint, psychologist scholars also attach positive facets to pride (Tracy and Robins 2007). Within this tradition, pride is seen as a self-caused emotion that is experienced when favorable results are achieved due to an individual’s own actions (Soscia 2007). The individual may then be justly proud of herself, her achievements, or her possessions (Zammuner 1996). Most of the marketing and consumption scholars have focused on the positive facets of pride (Decrop and Derbaix 2010; Verbeke et al. 2004). In fact, Belk’s (1983) conceptual paper is the only exception, addressing the sinful perspective of pride (and other deadly sins) in consumption and connecting it with materialism and conspicuous consumption. In this chapter we revisit pride in consumer research, elaborating it in a context in which pride seems at first glance to be missing: namely, in conditions of scarce consumption. In particular, we analyze manifestations of pride in two divergently scarce conditions by taking the perspectives of nonvoluntary and

Social needs in Finnish young adults’ mundane consumption

Purpose – This paper aims to show how social needs – the need for integration and need for distinctiveness – guide Finnish young adults’ mundane consumption behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on literature on the fundamental importance of social needs for people’s social well-being and the healthy development of the young. The research uses qualitative methods, leaning on an interpretive approach that regards social needs as subjectively experienced and socially constructed phenomena. The empirical data were sourced from 56 Finnish university students’ narratives on their daily consumption behaviors. Findings – The findings present five categories: “Socializing through consumption”, “Consuming to affiliate”, “Uniqueness through consumption”, “Consuming to show off” and “Obedient consumption”, which are further linked to social needs. Social implications – The study opens up the ways social needs are connected to consumption behaviors, for example showing how quotidian consumption obj...

Money Talks: Reproducing Deprivation and Empowerment in Poverty through Discursive Practices

Abstract Purpose This paper examines in what ways cultural representations of money reveal deprivation and empowerment in poverty. Methodology/approach The study draws on Finnish poor consumers’ narratives of their daily lives to identify the discursive practices involved in money talk. Poverty is seen as a frame in which the tacit cultural knowledge of money and the ways of enacting discursive practices are sustained and produced. Findings The research constructs a theoretical illustration of consumer empowerment and deprivation in poverty, which is based on four discursive practices: Moneyless is powerless, Capricious money, Wrestling with money, and Happiness cannot be bought with money. The illustration shows the dynamic evolution of empowerment and deprivation as they grow from and vary within the discursive practices. Social implications and value The study highlights the practical carrying out of life in poverty, which does not emerge only as deprived or as empowered, but instead involves a tension between them.