Ekaterina Taratuta: Consumption: the newest rituals of social risk management
Ekaterina Taratuta
Saint-Petersburg State University, Department of philosophy, chair of social philosophy, assistant; Nevsky Institute of Language and Culture, Department of PR and communications, associate professor.
It is often believed nowadays that the consumption models existing in the contemporary Western societies are correlated mostly with the specifically post-modern and/or post-industrial construction of world as a whole and correspond to a certain dominating view of the world which differs in principle from the positivist reformative pathos of the Modern time.
However, the contemporary utopia of consumption not so much repeals the modernist disposition to improvement of the world as canalizes this intention, in rather successful and distinctive way. The consumption demand strategy of the contemporary society comprises political, esthetic, scientific and other social declarations with their quite classical modernist characteristic pathos. However, all these social intentions are accumulated and carefully veiled within the contemporary social constructions of consumption.
Generally it is possible to define sense of the modernist strategies of social transformations as a distinctive management of risks. Actually society can hardly operate risks and ensure itself from threats; however, society usually persists to engaging in attempts of doing it. Therewith the only way of increase of life comfort with this respect is usually found in establishing certain rituals as related to risks. For instance, contemporary management of risks is not so much an effective mechanism of defense against them as the newest variant of the kind of ritual, the magic incantation against adversity by the very fact of the mechanism existence or presence. Therewith ritualization as such is a way of involvement of a singular event into regular schemes describing repeatable events. This involvement starts from work out of a method, a way of regulation (which should imply criteria of experimental verification, etc, etc.).
Where does society find a source of risk as such? Let me suppose that – at least for a consumption society – the source of potential instability is seen in enthusiasms of all kinds, but especially enthusiasms which are not embodied into institutionalized forms. However, the post-modern society is as much enthusiastic as any other (that is, it has its will and desire of social changes). The ideology of consumption turns to be therewith rather complicated social construction, since it allows transforming various differentiated social intentions into one universal instinct of consumption. Therewith the key social strategies of risk management turn to be transformed in a corresponding way. This kind of unification surely looks more usable and controllable on its initial stage, and it surely comprises the corresponding accumulation of risks, so that any managerial error could bring to much more serious consequences, down to social explosion.
Saint-Petersburg State University, Department of philosophy, chair of social philosophy, assistant; Nevsky Institute of Language and Culture, Department of PR and communications, associate professor.
It is often believed nowadays that the consumption models existing in the contemporary Western societies are correlated mostly with the specifically post-modern and/or post-industrial construction of world as a whole and correspond to a certain dominating view of the world which differs in principle from the positivist reformative pathos of the Modern time.
However, the contemporary utopia of consumption not so much repeals the modernist disposition to improvement of the world as canalizes this intention, in rather successful and distinctive way. The consumption demand strategy of the contemporary society comprises political, esthetic, scientific and other social declarations with their quite classical modernist characteristic pathos. However, all these social intentions are accumulated and carefully veiled within the contemporary social constructions of consumption.
Generally it is possible to define sense of the modernist strategies of social transformations as a distinctive management of risks. Actually society can hardly operate risks and ensure itself from threats; however, society usually persists to engaging in attempts of doing it. Therewith the only way of increase of life comfort with this respect is usually found in establishing certain rituals as related to risks. For instance, contemporary management of risks is not so much an effective mechanism of defense against them as the newest variant of the kind of ritual, the magic incantation against adversity by the very fact of the mechanism existence or presence. Therewith ritualization as such is a way of involvement of a singular event into regular schemes describing repeatable events. This involvement starts from work out of a method, a way of regulation (which should imply criteria of experimental verification, etc, etc.).
Where does society find a source of risk as such? Let me suppose that – at least for a consumption society – the source of potential instability is seen in enthusiasms of all kinds, but especially enthusiasms which are not embodied into institutionalized forms. However, the post-modern society is as much enthusiastic as any other (that is, it has its will and desire of social changes). The ideology of consumption turns to be therewith rather complicated social construction, since it allows transforming various differentiated social intentions into one universal instinct of consumption. Therewith the key social strategies of risk management turn to be transformed in a corresponding way. This kind of unification surely looks more usable and controllable on its initial stage, and it surely comprises the corresponding accumulation of risks, so that any managerial error could bring to much more serious consequences, down to social explosion.
posted by A. | 5:07 PM
<< Home