Browsing by Subject "Consumer culture"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Origins of a consumer culture in an early modern context : Ottoman Bursa
(2006) Karababa, Eminegül
Studies on the origins of the modern consumer culture generally focus on the early modern western context with the inherent assumption that today’s modern consumer culture had its origins in the early modern west. This study examines origins of an early modern consumer culture in a non-western context; Ottoman Empire between the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries and investigates how particularities of the context shaped a different consumer culture. Specifically the study focuses the town of Bursa. In the Ottoman context, social structure provided differences from the previously theorized western contexts concerning consumer culture phenomena. Ottoman context had a different dominant class and relatively high level of upward mobility among the ranks. Ottoman dominant class allowed the entry of lowest echelons and had intergenerational downward mobility. Multiple data sources including archival data were used to conduct this historical research. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were complemented. Findings show that indeed an early modern consumer culture in a non-western context existed. In addition, the characteristics of the Ottoman social structure shaped a different Ottoman consumer culture both in terms of appropriation of different categories of goods and the processes of fashion and diffusion of goods.
Open Access
Poverty in consumer culture: towards a tranformative social representation
(Routledge, 2014-10-20) Hamilton, K.; Piacentini, M. G.; Banister, E.; Barrios, A.; Blocker, C. P.; Coleman, C. A.; Ekici, A.; Gorge, H.; Hutton, M.; Passerard, F.; Saatcioglu, B.
In this article, we consider the representations of poverty within consumer culture. We focus on four main themes – social exclusion, vulnerability, pleasure and contentment – that capture some of the associations that contemporary understandings have made with poverty. For each theme, we consider the portrayals of poverty from the perspective of key agents (such as marketers, media, politicians) and then relate this to more emic representations of poverty by drawing on a range of contemporary poverty alleviating projects from around the world. We conclude with a set of guidelines for relevant stakeholders to bear in mind when elaborating their representations of poverty. These guidelines may act as a platform to transform marginalising representations of poverty into more empowering representations.
Open Access
Shops and shopkeepers in the İstanbul İhtisab register of 1092/1681
(2006) Kaya, Mustafa İsmail
The idea of the administration of economy in the Ottoman Empire was shaped by certain views with historical backgrounds. The Ottoman Sultans viewed their subjects as their dependents that should be protected, and rested on the Islamic principle of hisba in terms of market control and supervision. In this way, market control gained a religious aspect in addition to the fiscal. The official in charge with the market affairs, the İhtisâb ağası, collected taxes in return for his service. The main source and subject of this thesis, the İhtisâb-tax register of Istanbul dated 1092/1681, was prepared for the daily tax, which was collected mostly from victual shops. The register provides information about the kinds of trades, the owners of the shops, and the amount of tax paid daily. With this information, subjects like consumption habits and the ethnic and social identity of the shop-owning class could be understood better.