![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
In this article, we argue that citizenship conceived within a context of neoliberal rationality helps explain the emergence of what we term the ‘citizen as consumer’. We define the citizen as consumer as someone who relates to the state and the public realms from the private perspective of consumption. We ask how this emergent neoliberal citizen is configured in peripheral countries that are regarded as exemplifying ‘weak’ citizenship. To respond to this question, we consider the protests that occurred in Brazil in 2013 as an empirical illustration. Our main objective is to rethink the citizen/state relationship in consumer studies, employing a dialectical analysis to understand how the better-known consumer-citizen movement, in which the consumer acts as a citizen and gives birth, under a neoliberal rationality, to a movement that somehow disrupts these roles such that the citizen starts to act as a consumer. The Brazilian protests provide insights that advance debate on the scope and limits of the hybridisation between citizens and consumers and on the transformations in the relationship between citizenship and politics.
References
| Alvesson, M, Skoldberg, K (2009) Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research, London: Sage. Google Scholar | |
| Brown, W (2015) Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution, New York: Zone Books. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Burgess, A (2001) Flattering consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture 1(1): 93–117. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Caldeira, TPR (2015) Social movements, cultural production, and protests. Current Anthropology 56(S11): S126–S136. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Carvalho, J (2008) Cidadania no Brasil: o longo caminho, Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira. Google Scholar | |
| Clarke, J (2007) Unsettled connections. Journal of Consumer Culture 7(2): 159–178. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Cohen, L (1995) A consumer's republic: The politics of mass consumption in postwar America: An interview with Lizabeth Cohen – conducted by Lisa Kannenberg and Lisa Philips. Rutgers Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries LVII(1–2): 6–23. Google Scholar | |
| Cohen, L (2003) A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America, New York: Knopf Publishing Group. Google Scholar | |
| Cohen, L (2004) A consumer's republic: The politics of mass consumption in postwar America. Journal of Consumer Research 31(1): 236–239. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Dardot, P, Laval, C (2016) A Nova Razão Do Mundo – Ensaios Sobre a Sociedade Neoliberal, Belo Horizonte: Boitempo Editorial. Google Scholar | |
| Denzin, NK (2001) The seventh moment: Qualitative inquiry and the practices of a more radical consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research 28(2): 324–330. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Dowbor, M, Szwako, J (2013) Respeitável público…: Performance e organização dos movimentos antes dos protestos de 2013. Novos Estudos – CEBRAP 97(97): 43–55. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Frederico, C (2013) Da periferia ao centro: Cultura e política em tempos pós-modernos. Estudos Avançados 27(79): 239–255. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Glesne, C (1999) Becoming Qualitative Researchers, New York: Longman Publishing. Google Scholar | |
| Glickman, LB (2009) Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago: Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Gohn, MGM (2014) Manifestações de junho de 2013 no Brasil e Praças dos Indignados no mundo, Petrópolis: Editora Vozes. Google Scholar | |
| Grosglik, R (2017) Citizen-consumer revisited: The cultural meanings of organic food consumption in Israel. Journal of Consumer Culture 17(3): 732–751. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Harvey, D (2010) A Companion to Marx's Capital, London; New York: Verso Books. Google Scholar | |
| Holt, DB (2002) Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer culture and branding. Journal of Consumer Research 29(1): 70–90. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Jenson, J (2007) The European Union's citizenship regime: Creating norms and building practices. Comparative European Politics 5(1): 53–69. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Jubas, K (2007) Conceptual con/fusion in democratic societies. Journal of Consumer Culture 7(2): 231–254. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Klein, N (2009) No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, New York: Picador. Google Scholar | |
| Kozinets, RV (2002) The field behind the screen: Using Netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journal of Marketing Research 39(1): 61–72. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Kozinets, RV, Handelman, JM (2004) Adversaries of consumption: Consumer movements, activism, and ideology. Journal of Consumer Research 31(3): 691–704. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Lang, T, Gabriel, Y (2005) A Brief History of Consumer Activism: The Ethical Consumer, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 39–54. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Lem, W (2013) Citizenship, migration and formations of class in Urban France. Dialectical Anthropology 37(3–4): 443–461. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Livingstone, S, Lunt, P, Miller, L (2007) Citizens, consumers and the citizen-consumer: Articulating the citizen interest in media and communications regulation. Discourse & Communication 1(1): 63–89. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Mäkinen, K (2017) Struggles of citizenship and class: Anti-immigration activism in Finland. The Sociological Review 65(2): 218–234. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Mandaji, C (2014) O gigante adormecido vem pra rua: Construções enunciativas de Johnnie Walker e Fiat durante as manifestações brasileiras de 2013. Comunicação, Mídia E Consumo 11(30): 107–121. Google Scholar | |
| Maricato, E, Harvey, D, Davis, M (2013) Cidades Rebeldes: Passe Livre a as manifestações que Tomaram as Ruas do Brasil, São Paulo: Boitempo/Carta Maior. Google Scholar | |
| Micheletti, M, Stolle, D (2012) Sustainable citizenship and the new politics of consumption. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 644(1): 88–120. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| MPL (2013) Movimento Passe Livre. Não começou em Salvador, não vai terminar em São Paulo. In: Maricato, E, Harvey, D, Davis, Met al.(eds) Cidades Rebeldes: Passe Livre e as Manifestações Que Tomaram as Ruas Do Brasil, São Paulo: Boitempo/Carta Maior, pp. 95–100. Google Scholar | |
| Miles, S (2012) The neoliberal city and the pro-active complicity of the citizen consumer. Journal of Consumer Culture 12(2): 216–230. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Neri, M (2011) A nova classe média: o lado brilhante da base da pirâmide, São Paulo: Saraiva. Google Scholar | |
| Oliveira, F, Rizek, CS (2007) A Era Da Indeterminação, São Paulo: Boitempo Editorial. Google Scholar | |
| Page, A (2014) ‘How many slaves work for you?’ Race, new media, and neoliberal consumer activism. Journal of Consumer Culture 17(1): 46–61. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Sakamoto, L (2013) Em São Paulo, o Facebook e o Twitter foram Às Ruas. In: Maricato, E, Harvey, D, Davis, M (eds) Cidades Rebeldes: Passe Livre a as Manifestações Que Tomaram as Ruas Do Brasil, São Paulo: Boitempo/Carta Maior, pp. 95–100. . Google Scholar | |
| Sandikci Ekici, ÖA (2009) Politically motivated brand rejection. Journal of Business Research 62(2): 208–217. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Schild, V (2007) Empowering `consumer-citizens` or governing poor female subjects?. Journal of Consumer Culture 7(2): 179–203. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Scholz C (2013) Campanhas gêmeas para mudar o mundo. Available at: http://blogs.estadao.com.br/radar-da-propaganda/campanhas-gemeas-a-favor-de-um-mundo-melhor/ (accessed 10 January 2018). Google Scholar | |
| Singer, A (2013) Brasil, junho de 2013, classes e ideologias cruzadas. Novos Estudos – CEBRAP 97(97): 23–40. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Soper, K (2007) Re-thinking the `good life`. Journal of Consumer Culture 7(2): 205–229. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Souza, J (2010) Os Batalhadores Brasileiros: Nova Classe Media Ou Nova Classe Trabalhadora?, Belo Horizonte: Editora UFMG. Google Scholar | |
| Streeck, W (2012) Citizens as customers: Considerations on the new politics of consumption. New Left Review 76: 27–47. Google Scholar | |
| Thompson, W (2002) Reforming Our Public Services: Principles into Practice, London: Office of Public Services Reform. Google Scholar | |
| Trentmann, F (2007) Citizenship and consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture 7(2): 147–158. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals |
