“We are not terrorists!” UK‐based Iranians, consumption practices and the “torn self”

Jafari, Aliakbar and Goulding, Christina (2008) “We are not terrorists!” UK‐based Iranians, consumption practices and the “torn self”. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 11 (2). pp. 73-91. ISSN 1025-3866

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Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory study of the consumption practices of UK-based young Iranians. Based on a series of in-depth interviews and participatory observation we provide an insight into the identity-constituting meanings associated with consumption practices. We illustrate how individuals use consumption discourses to tackle a series of ideological tensions in their sociocultural settings, both in Iran and in the UK. We describe how in a theocratic state individuals use commodified cultural symbolic mediators to construct and reaffirm a sense of self and identity and also to covertly resist the dominant order. We discuss consumer's paradoxes and dilemmas when confronted with a complex set of clashes between restricting political/institutional dynamics and the emancipatory forces of Western consumption. We conclude by discussing how these contradictions and strategies lead to a form of "torn" self.

Author(s):Jafari, Aliakbar ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4321-2911 and Goulding, Christina
Item type:Article
ID code:7421
Keywords:consumer behaviour, consumption, social anthropology, cultural anthropology, state ideology, consumption practices, resistance, identity, torn self, Marketing. Distribution of products, Anthropology, Economics and Econometrics, Social Psychology, Marketing
Subjects:Social Sciences > Commerce > Marketing. Distribution of products
Department:Strathclyde Business School > Marketing
Depositing user: Strathprints Administrator
Date deposited:15 Jan 2009 14:47
Last modified:24 Jan 2020 01:30
URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/7421
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