Consumption and its discontents: addiction, identity and the problems of freedom

The focus of this paper is on the notion of 'addictive consumption', conceived as a set of discourses that are embedded within wider socio-historical processes of governance and control. It examines the discursive convergences and conflicts between practices of consumption and notions of addiction, which it notes are consistently represented in terms of the oppositional categories of self-control vs. compulsion and freedom vs. determinism. These interrelations are explored with reference to the development of notions of addiction, and their relation to shifting configurations of identity, subjectivity and governance. Finally, it suggests that the notion of 'addiction' has particular valence in advanced liberal societies, where an unprecedented emphasis on the values of freedom, autonomy and choice not only encourage the conditions for its proliferation into ever wider areas of social life, but also reveal deep tensions within the ideology of consumerism itself.     

Kumulation von Mikrodaten – Konzeptionelle Grundlagen und ein Vorschlag zur Realisierung

Zusammenfassung: In dieser Studie wird ein Konzept zur Kumulation von laufenden Haushaltsbudgetbefragungen im Rahmen des Projektes Amtliche Statistik und sozioökonomische Fragestellungen entwickelt und zur Diskussion gestellt. Dafür werden die theoretischen Grundlagen und Bausteine gelegt und die zentrale Aufgabe einer strukturellen demographischen Gewichtung mit einem Hochrechnungs–/Kalibrierungsansatz auf informationstheoretischer Basis gelöst.Vor dem Hintergrund der Wirtschaftsrechnungen des Statistischen Bundesamtes (Lfd. Wirtschaftsrechnungen und EVS) wird darauf aufbauend ein konkretes Konzept für die Kumulation von jährlichen Haushaltsbudgetbefragungen vorgeschlagen. Damit kann das Ziel einer Kumulation von Querschnitten mit einer umfassenderen Kumulationsstichprobe für tief gegliederte Analysen erreicht werden. Folgen sollen die Simulationsrechnungen zur Evaluation des Konzepts.

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Summary: In this study a concept for cumulating periodic household surveys within the frame of the project Official Statistics and Socio–Economic Questions is developed and asks for discussion. We develop the theoretical background and solve the central task of a structural demographic weighting/calibration based on an information theoretical approach.Based on the household budget surveys of the Federal Statistical Office (Periodic Household Budget Surveys and Income and Consumption Sample (EVS)) a practical concept is proposed to cumulate yearly household surveys. This allows a cumulation of cross–sections by a comprehensive cumulated sample for deeply structured analyses. In a following study this concept shall be evaluated.

     

Culture,the 'sick role' and the consumption of health

This paper revisits Parsons's conception of the 'sick role' and examines the relevance of his writings on the cultural understanding of sickness to the consumption of health in the contemporary era. In terms of current developments, I focus on the development of pro-active approaches towards the healthy body, and the growth of 'information rich' consumers of health care. These have become prominent themes in sociology, and while Parsons's writings are usually viewed as anachronistic I argue they remain highly pertinent to understanding the emergence of informed, body conscious lay people. If Parsons's analysis of health is more relevant to current circumstances than many critics assume, however, it is not unproblematic. The residual categories associated with the sick role obscure the continued utility of his work on the general cultural values informing health care. It is Parsons's analysis of these values, I suggest, that needs rescuing from restricted understandings of the sick role and highlighting as an important resource for contemporary theorists.     

拉动需求+推动改革:继续实施的积极财政政策要有新思路

已经连续实施5年的积极财政政策始终未能在拉动消费需求方面取得令人满意的成效。要延续以往成效并克服上述缺憾,继续实施的积极财政政策应当引入"以改革促增长"的新思路。在拉动需求和推动改革并重的旗帜下,通过一系列举措的相应安排或调整,放大继续实施的积极财政政策的功效。     

消费文化与社会可持续发展

消费生活方式不仅影响着个人的生存、享受和发展,而且关系到社会的安危。应该提高消费中的"文化"含量,加强对消费心理、消费行为的引导,弘扬节俭的时代精神,提高精神文化消费的比重,提高精神文化产品质量,从而促进人的全面发展,促进社会经济的发展,实现人的发展与社会经济发展的良性循环,物质文明与精神文明的良性循环,全面建设小康社会。     

辽宁省农村居民消费存在问题、原因及对策

"十五"期间和未来十年是中国经济发展的重要时期,江泽民同志在党的十六大报告中指出"建设现代农业,发展农村经济,增加农民收入,是全面建设小康社会的重大任务".本研究利用近年来辽宁省农村居民生活消费资料和农村住户调查资料,系统地分析农村居民消费存在问题并剖析原因、提出政策建议.以期为政府部门了解农村居民消费状况,合理调整农业产业结构,增加农村居民收入,引导农村居民消费,促进农村经济持续、健康发展提供参考.     

Health Risk Assessment After Decontamination of the Beaches Polluted by the Wrecked ERIKA Tanker

Following the wreck of the oil tanker ERIKA off the north-west coast of France in December 1999, cleaning up of the beaches involved considerable work, which in any case could not be perfect. This raised the question of the short- and long-term health risks for the future bathers related to the toxicity of the remaining oil polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This risk assessment study was conducted to help health authorities plan risk management policies and inform the public. Thirty-six beaches were selected, representing a sample of the most frequently encountered topographic and beach usage situations; seven "control" beaches, unspoiled by ERIKA, were also investigated. Samples of water and sand were taken from each site, as well as from the surface of rocks. The 16 PAHs selected by the U.S. EPA were quantified in each environment. Several scenarios of exposure were contemplated: (1) a child between 2 and 4 years accidentally ingesting a small ball of fuel, (2) a child daily exposed throughout his holiday-time stay, (3) an adult (including a pregnant woman) spending his/her holidays on the coast, (4) an adult working on the beach, (5) and an adult practicing water sports. Among the available and significant toxicological values, the most conservative ones were selected for computing risks. The sand and water, after decontamination, were slightly polluted (respectively, 7.8 microg/kg and 23.3 ng/l of total 16 PAHs), with values similar to those found in the control beaches. By contrast, the rocky areas in some places were still highly polluted (up to 23 mg/kg on the surface layer). No lethal risk was found for a young child who had accidentally ingested a small ball of fuel. The life-long excess risks for skin cancer and for all other cancers were about 10-5 in scenarios including contact with the polluted rocks. In all other cases, excess risks were considerably lower. The hazard quotient for teratogenic effects was very small, except in scenarios where pregnant women would walk among rocks containing high pollution levels. In conclusion, exposure was mainly associated with polluted water among children, and with spoiled rocks for adults. Despite uncertainties, mainly dealing with the prediction of long-term risks following a short-term exposure, this study showed that beaches where pollution was no longer visible after decontamination did not entail any significant health risks and could be opened to the public.     

CHOOSING USING

This article investigates the shaping of contemporary drug-using (and non-drug-using) subjectivities through operations of choice and consumption. Examining various registers of ‘possession,’ it argues that in the construction of both docile and irredeemably flawed consumers, ‘choice’ (and its negation) is pivotal. Exploring motifs of choice, possession and pleasure in the operations of ‘normal’ consumer culture and the problematization of drug-using exposes a deeper anxiety underlying contemporary drug panics.     

An Elixir for Development? Olive Oil Policies and Poverty Alleviation in the Middle East and North Africa

The evolution of olive oil markets has sparked interest in policies that promote olive oil as a means of inducing rural development across the Middle East and North Africa. This article describes policies that link olive oil markets to rural development in Morocco, Syria and Tunisia and evaluate their effectiveness. It uses a framework that combines producer heterogeneity and market differentiation to describe how rural poverty impacts will be shaped by production, quality and marketing constraints. While the flow of olive oil from producers to the market may have increased, that of information and incentives in the reverse direction is still limited, something that too few olive oil policies aim to improve.     

休闲消费中的流体验生命周期探究

体验是随着消费者休闲消费的经验不断丰富而不断变化的，是一个动态的过程。体验如何变化以及休闲消费企业针对体验的动态过程的对策是需要解决的一个问题。利用流理论，从心理学角度探究休闲消费中的消费者体验主要有以下几点：首先，对心理学视角下的三个代表体验理论进行述评；其次，基于流体验理论提出休闲消费的流体验生命周期以及体验的总效用模型；最后，基于流体验生命周期从个人和休闲两个层面，提出提高消费者休闲消费倾向的对策。