Biblioteca Digital de VanguardiaEl Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China
Based on ongoing fieldwork with a group of wealthy entrepreneurs who were formerly avid consumers of luxury brands, this paper examines emerging critiques of luxury consumption in urban China. I begin with an overview of the key roles luxury brands have played during the past two decades in signifyi...
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| Formato: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
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Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales
2016
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| Acceso en línea: | http://revistasacademicas.unsam.edu.ar/index.php/etnocontemp/article/view/402 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/25014 |
| _version_ | 1782337123828891648 |
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| author | Osburg, John |
| author_facet | Osburg, John |
| author_sort | Osburg, John |
| collection | Repositorio |
| description | Based on ongoing fieldwork with a group of wealthy entrepreneurs who
were formerly avid consumers of luxury brands, this paper examines
emerging critiques of luxury consumption in urban China. I begin with an overview of the key roles luxury brands have played during the past two decades in signifying membership in exclusive social networks in China and mediating their associated gift economies. I then look at more recent changes brought on by several factors: anti-corruption campaigns, nationalist aversion to “foreign” luxury, the growing “commonness” of luxury brands in elite social circles, and increasing “inflation” in the gift economy. These factors have begun to undermine the previous meanings and functions of luxury, and to many wealthy Chinese, luxury brands now deliver something very different from the “global recognition” they once promised. The contradictions inherent in luxury consumption, I argue, are pushing members of China’s new rich towards
more austere forms of status distinction including religious devotion
and other traditional forms of spiritual and bodily self-cultivation. |
| format | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| id | clacso-CLACSO25014 |
| institution | CLACSO, Repositorio Digital |
| language | Español |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales |
| record_format | greenstone |
| spelling | clacso-CLACSO250142022-03-15T19:49:43Z El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China El lujo y sus malestares en la China contemporánea Osburg, John lujo consumo riqueza China luxury consumption wealth China Based on ongoing fieldwork with a group of wealthy entrepreneurs who were formerly avid consumers of luxury brands, this paper examines emerging critiques of luxury consumption in urban China. I begin with an overview of the key roles luxury brands have played during the past two decades in signifying membership in exclusive social networks in China and mediating their associated gift economies. I then look at more recent changes brought on by several factors: anti-corruption campaigns, nationalist aversion to “foreign” luxury, the growing “commonness” of luxury brands in elite social circles, and increasing “inflation” in the gift economy. These factors have begun to undermine the previous meanings and functions of luxury, and to many wealthy Chinese, luxury brands now deliver something very different from the “global recognition” they once promised. The contradictions inherent in luxury consumption, I argue, are pushing members of China’s new rich towards more austere forms of status distinction including religious devotion and other traditional forms of spiritual and bodily self-cultivation. Basado en el trabajo de campo en curso con un grupo de empresarios acaudalados que antes eran ávidos consumidores de marcas de lujo, este trabajo examina las críticas emergentes al consumo de lujo en China urbana. Comienzo con una visión general de las principales funciones que las marcas de lujo han jugado durante las últimas dos décadas como signos de pertenencia a redes sociales exclusivas en China y mediadoras en las economías del don asociadas a estas redes. Luego presto atención a los cambios más recientes provocados por varios factores: las campañas de lucha contra la corrupción, la aversión nacionalista al lujo "extranjero", la creciente "vulgaridad" de las marcas de lujo en círculos sociales de elite, y el aumento de la "inflación" en la economía del regalo. Estos factores han comenzado a socavar los significados y las funciones previas del lujo, y para muchos chinos ricos, las marcas de lujo ofrecen ahora algo muy diferente del "reconocimiento mundial" que una vez prometieron. Las contradicciones inherentes en el consumo de lujo, argumento, están presionando a los nuevos ricos chinos hacia formas más austeras de distinción, incluyendo la devoción religiosa y otras formas tradicionales de auto-cultivación espiritual y corporal. 2016-06-23 2022-03-15T19:49:43Z 2022-03-15T19:49:43Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://revistasacademicas.unsam.edu.ar/index.php/etnocontemp/article/view/402 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/25014 spa http://revistasacademicas.unsam.edu.ar/index.php/etnocontemp/article/view/402/374 http://revistasacademicas.unsam.edu.ar/index.php/etnocontemp/article/view/402/1454 application/pdf text/html Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales Etnografías Contemporáneas; Vol. 2 Núm. 2 (2016): Etnografías Contemporáneas 2451-8050 |
| spellingShingle | lujo consumo riqueza China luxury consumption wealth China Osburg, John El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China |
| title | El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China |
| title_full | El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China |
| title_fullStr | El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China |
| title_full_unstemmed | El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China |
| title_short | El Luxury and its discontents in contemporary China |
| title_sort | el luxury and its discontents in contemporary china |
| topic | lujo consumo riqueza China luxury consumption wealth China |
| url | http://revistasacademicas.unsam.edu.ar/index.php/etnocontemp/article/view/402 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/25014 |