Choice In Cultural Studies

Question 1

How is choice seen in psychology vs in cultural studies

Answer 1

Psychology: examine how consumers make different choice and what obstacles/resources they find

Cultural studies: explore choice as part of zeitgeist, spirit of times, and as defining feature of contemporary culture, politics and society

Question 2

What’s the key insight from choice in cultural studies ( 1 subpoint)

Answer 2

Even individual choice are socially situated
- constantly judge others’ choices and worry how own choices will be judged

Question 3

According to cultural studies, choice is strongly influenced by…( 1 subpoint + argument)

Answer 3

Strongly influenced by postmodernist thinking
- plurality of meanings, importance of language, and social construction of reality
Argument: much modern consumption unfolds in realm of seduction, where goods are not chosen for its uses but as objects of fantasy

Question 4

How does Bauman’s Theory view choice

Answer 4

Choice as freedom… but unequally distributed freedom
- choice liberates some, but exacerbates the oppression of others
> the very system offers “a lot of choice and makes him a truly “free” individual, also generates on a massive scale the experience of oppression”
> poor as disenfranchised from choice

Question 5

How does Gidden’s Theory see choice

Answer 5

Choice and individual’s struggle for identity and selfhood
- past: fixed by social position, tradition, and habit
> choice as demise of traditional society

• today: unending project of self-creation by continuously making choices
  > “we all not only follow lifestyles, but in an important sense are forced to do so - we have no choice but to chose”
  > consumption as opportunity to create and display one’s identity

Question 6

Analyzing tensions of choice
1. Choice as quest for…

Answer 6

…for difference vs choice as quest for similarity
- seeking of individuality
- tastes as social demarcation (family name -> class) and “cultural capital” (knowing wines - class)

Question 7

Analysing tensions of choice
2. Choice as opening up ….

Answer 7

Choice as opening up choices by closing down choices
- power relations
- hierarchies of privilege and exclusion