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Theorising middle class consumption from the global South: A study of everyday ethics in South Africa’s Western Cape

McEwan, C.; Hughes, A.; Bek, D.

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Authors

A. Hughes

D. Bek



Abstract

Emerging research on the increasing significance of consumption in the global South is concerned with its links to the globalizing middle classes. Against the backdrop of optimism invested in the new global middle classes to fuel consumption-led growth, this paper contributes to new debate about the articulations and significance of ethical consumption in the global South. Missing from much current mainstream policy, media and academic debate is acknowledgement of the diversity of the global middle classes and an understanding of how ethical interpretations and behaviour differ in various consumer markets around the world. In response, this paper draws on qualitative research in South Africa’s Western Cape to explore the cultural significance of everyday ethical realities in shaping consumption in the global South. In addition to addressing the relative absence of research into ethical consumption in global South contexts, the paper makes two key contributions based our findings. First, it challenges the tendency, particularly in economic discourses, to generalise about the ‘new’ global middle class consumers by highlighting the significance of locality and context in shaping consumption practices in the Western Cape; specifically it finds that, for diverse middle class consumers, thrift is an important ethical choice and practice determining consumption patterns. Second, it highlights the significance of everyday ethical practices in shaping consumption in the Western Cape, focusing specifically on how thrift is imbricated in concerns with not just economic constraint, but also care, habit and aspiration. The paper concludes with reflections on the wider implications of these findings and suggests that they illustrate a need to theorise ethical consumption from contexts in the global South, on their own terms.

Citation

McEwan, C., Hughes, A., & Bek, D. (2015). Theorising middle class consumption from the global South: A study of everyday ethics in South Africa’s Western Cape. Geoforum, 67, 233-243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.02.011

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 18, 2015
Online Publication Date Mar 10, 2015
Publication Date Dec 1, 2015
Deposit Date Mar 12, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Geoforum
Print ISSN 0016-7185
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 67
Pages 233-243
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.02.011
Keywords Thrift, Ethical consumption, Care ethics, New African consumer, South Africa, Middle class.

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