An Anthropological Approach to Consumption Practices in Contemporary Asia

Introduction

抄録

Over the last few decades, East, Southeast, and South Asia have experienced tremendous economic and social transformation. This special issue explores continuity and change in personal and household consumption in contemporary Asia, which is often considered both a motor of global economic growth and a major potential source of global catastrophe. This introductory article offers an overview of recent consumption scholarship and discusses how personal and household consumption may be better analyzed. The article suggests that the recent "practice turn" in the field provides a good starting point for examining the nature of ordinary consumption as well as its social and environmental consequences. However, anthropological analyses of consumption should combine practice-theoretical and other approaches to develop a multifaceted approach that can examine broader aspects of consumption practices that include actions as well as routines, and conscious reflection as well as embodied sense.