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

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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 (https://doi.org/10.1080/10253860802033605)

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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.

ORCID iDs

Jafari, Aliakbar ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4321-2911 and Goulding, Christina;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)