消费伦理与现代消费主义文化精神

消费主义是消费社会的核心价值观。批判消费主义是当前消费伦理学的前沿性课题,追问消费主义的伦理基础是文化批判理论不可或缺的重要内容。自消费革命以来,西方消费伦理思想大致经历了两次变革:一是消费的去道德化;二是消费的伦理价值重构。两次变革一方面以过度消费取代了满足基本生存需要的自然消费;另一方面,还以奢侈消费为善的道德判断颠覆了节俭消费的美德传统。解读西方消费主义文化与消费伦理之间的关系,对于我们认清当前消费生活颠倒性的实质内涵具有重要启示意义。     

SPECULATORS AND TRAVELLERS THE POLITICAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOURIST IN THE KÁDÁR REGIME

This paper analyses the political construction of different types of tourists present in Hungary during the period of state socialism. After the 1956 revolution was crushed, Communist leadership sought to find new ways of legitimizing its power. One of the major legitimizing factors was raising standards of living. Another was the opening of the borders that is, allowing Hungarian citizens limited possibilities for travelling abroad. This concession was rather unique within the Communist Bloc, and it was not without its own dangers from the power holders' point of view. Citizens had to be guarded, controlled and supervized, not only to come back to Hungary,but also to think and feel properly in foreign countries. This paper demonstrates the efforts of the Communist Press, to bring into being construction of the ideal enlightened Tourist who is interested in art, museums and ‘social human values’. This ideal Tourist is set against with the Speculators, whose only concern is goods, especially Western goods, and have only ‘dirty’ material interest in travelling. This construction was doomed to fail due to a basic paradox: whereas the Kádár regime - quite successfully - stimulated consumer values in Hungary,one could hardly hope that these consumerist desires would be left behind during there vacation spent abroad.     

消费意识形态建构中大众传媒的共谋

消费主义就其实质来说,它不仅以追求享乐主义、对物质的绝对占有和无节制的消费为基础,而且更多情况下这种消费观念和消费方式又是商家通过各种方式制造给我们的,这就使消费行为成为在商家与媒体“共谋”所构筑的意识形态网络中的一种非自主性行为。大众传媒作为消费意识形态自我合理化的工具和消费文化的催化剂,在这个过程中担负着重要共谋角色。     

Accepting and Negotiating Service Users' Choices in Mental Health Transition Meetings

Across Western welfare regimes, policies emphasize that service users should have more choices regarding their services. This article examines how service choices are presented, responded to and decided in interactions between service users and professionals in mental health transition meetings. Choice is often associated with consumerist user involvement ideas, but in mental health choice also relates to the democratic user involvement approach and to shared decision making between professionals and service users. The results of the study show that professionals construct service users as consumers by offering service options in choice making sequences, expecting users to make appropriate choices. Service users mostly act like consumers by responding to these choice options. However, the study also demonstrates that the professionals do not always accept the user's first choice but respond to them as non‐preferred. Sometimes, they also suggest choices on behalf of the users. In these ‘non‐accepting’ sequences, choices are negotiated in interaction between the parties, rather than users acting as autonomous choice makers. The sequences are based on two kinds of professional reasoning: first, the professional‐led needs assessment and, second, the structure of the service package that the user is being offered. This negotiation has elements of shared decision making and the ‘logic of care’. But it also has elements of paternalist control which challenge both consumerist and democratic service user involvement and suggests consideration of more collectively oriented service user actions.     

Understanding the Downshifting Phenomenon: A Case of South East Queensland,Australia

A quality of life survey of a sample of households across the Brisbane‐South East Queensland region has identified about 28 percent of people as ‘downshifters.‘ They are defined as people who voluntarily make a long‐term change in their lifestyle – other than planned retirement – which reduces income and adjusts their lifestyle conditions. A typology of downshifters is developed on the basis of their motives for downshifting and their socio‐economic and demographic characteristics using a Two Step Cluster Analysis. Results indicate that the social and economic circumstances and the reasons and methods of downshifting tend to vary substantially across the clusters.     

Situational Crime Prevention and its Discontents: Rational Choice Theory versus the 'Culture of Now'

The rational choice theory of crime and its cognate field of study, situational crime prevention, have exerted a considerable influence in criminal justice policy and criminology. This article argues that, while undeniably useful as a means of reducing property or acquisitive crime, rational choice‐inspired situational crime prevention initiatives are limited when it comes to offering protection against a growing number of so‐called ‘expressive crimes’. Developing this critique, the article will criticize the sociologically hollow narrative associated with rational choice theories of crime by drawing on recent research in social theory and consumer studies. It argues that the growing tendency among many young individuals to engage in certain forms of criminal decision‐making ‘strategies’ may simply be the by‐product of a series of subjectivities and emotions that reflect the material values and cultural logic associated with late modern consumerism.     

Situational Crime Prevention and Its Discontents: Rational Choice and Harm Reduction versus 'Cultural Criminology'

In this journal, in 2007, Keith Hayward criticized situational crime prevention (SCP) and rational choice. The main thesis was that SCP cannot tackle expressive crimes of anger, hostility and excitement. The secondary thesis was that this was because the rational choice perspective cannot account for intangible aspects of offender decision-making. Hayward's cultural criminology was offered as better explaining expressive and other crimes. The present article suggests fundamental issues may have been overlooked. Some of the many ways SCP applies to expressive and irrational crimes, and how readily they fit into the choice framework, are outlined, and a preliminary critique of Hayward's cultural criminology is offered.     

Why bother to ‘downshift’? The characteristics and satisfaction of downshifters in the Brisbane-South East Queensland region,Australia

Using the data collected as part of a Quality of Life (QoL) survey in the Brisbane-South East Queensland region (SEQ) of Australia, this paper examines differences in satisfaction levels between downshifters and non-downshifters, and identifies socio-economic predictors of the downshifting phenomenon. Almost 30% of survey respondents are classified as downshifters. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance reveals significant differences between downshifters and non-downshifters in a number of life-satisfaction domains, although the degree to which they were satisfied with their life before downshifting is unknown. Analysis of Covariance shows that downshifters reported a significantly lower level of satisfaction than non-downshifters, especially with respect to satisfaction with the amount of money available to them, independence or freedom, and employment. Multivariate logistic regression analysis reveals that post-secondary education and employment were positively associated with downshifting, while age was significantly associated with downshifting. It is argued that if downshifting is associated with lower levels of satisfaction, intervention may be required to initiate programs to engage downshifters more fully in the workforce by facilitating more flexible work arrangements and an improved working environment.     

叶灵凤与现代消费主义文学

叶灵凤的小说创作体现了现代都市生活的消费主义取向 ,其创作理念与当前全球化视野中的艺术生产规律有某种历史相似性。他对商业文化、市场拜物教以及现代理性侵蚀下的人性伤痕所作的细致刻画使其小说超越了消费本身。这种有着鲜明的消费主义倾向的小说创作表现出现代都市文学的生存意向     

后现代社会的消费文化及其审美特征

王宁认为,消费文化是后现代消费社会特有的产物,与现代主义的精英文化有着明显的差别;它的一部分格调高雅的产品有可能被提升为精英文化产品,但更多的产品则会随着时光的流逝而成为过眼云烟。王一川指出,中国当前消费文化并没有简单地按费瑟斯通所铺设的"商品世界及其结构化"大道迈进,多重文化因子在其中起着复杂的拉动作用,形成彼此错时或错位关联,因而使出现了身体在热烈消费而头脑却在冷峻思考的悖谬现象。包亚明认为,消费主义的逻辑不仅成为了社会运用空间的逻辑,而且也成为了主导日常生活的文化逻辑;在全球城市的风景背后,精英阶层的消费文化"诉求"已经被合理化、自然化为与世界接轨的先决条件。陆扬认为,消费文化的全球化面临着美国文化主导其中这个难以回避的问题,假如认为美国文化纯粹是由图像和声响刺激起来的消费主义,那将是过低估计了它对中国文化发扬光大自身民族传统构成的挑战。