Summary Of Social Theory In The Real World By Steven Miles

Social Theory in the Real World, by Steven Miles, asks how consumption evolved into such a crucial facet of society’s everyday lives. In this sense consumption exists entirely as a cultural phenomenon. Consumer goods are “key instruments for the reproduction, representation, and manipulation of their culture.” The concept of consumerism, Miles argues, “is concerned with the hidden properties of consumption, and, in particular, the ideological dimensions of a consumer society.” That is, cultural industries provides the arena, in the form of popular culture, in which capitalism could extend its control over the masses.

Clearly not only about an exchange on the market, consumption has a critical social and cultural role. Miles claims that