Money, Debt and Finance: Reclaiming the Conditions of Possibility in Consumption Research

This article provides an argument for why the sociology of consumption should be reorientated towards a money and finance sensibility. Proceeding from the observation that the rise of financialised capitalism has gone largely ignored in in the field, we suggest that the conditions of contemporary consumption - shaped by austerity, inflation and an energy crisis - render this neglect untenable. In omitting money, the field not only elides its conditions of possibility but also abandons understanding of credit and consumer society to other fields that do not adequately acknowledge the dynamics of consumption. The article offers: (1) an account of why money has been absent from the sociology of consumption; (2) an auto-archaeology of data from our previous studies of household consumption in the UK, but reinterpreted and read through the lens of money and finance and (3) an indication of future research priorities and pathways for a reorientated sociology of consumption.

Automated summary

This article argues for a reorientation of the sociology of consumption towards a financial and monetary perspective. It highlights the neglect of the rise of financialised capitalism in the field and suggests that the current conditions of consumption make it untenable to ignore money. The article offers an explanation for the absence of money in the sociology of consumption, reinterprets previous studies through the lens of money and finance, and indicates future research priorities and pathways for a reorientated sociology of consumption.