|
Article Excerpt
CONSUMER GOODS HAVE ENTERED THE HOMES and are transforming the daily lives of people around the world. A new social order, influenced by the consumer culture, appears to accompany these purchased objects (Scardigli, 1983). How are the behaviours and values that characterize this social order introduced, and how do they take root in societies?
The modernization process has given rise to a new culture that began in the Western Hemisphere with the industrial revolution (Slater, 1997) and became generalized after World War II (Ewen, 1976). Consumer culture represents a particular development of modernization that is characterized by the importance of market relations. With individuals no longer producing what they need, the market has supplanted the traditional economic institutions that used to resolve most material problems (Scardigli, 1983). A consumer culture developed in Western societies under conditions created by the generalization of material affluence, which was maintained by an effective system of production. The increase in supply would have exerted only a limited effect without a concomitant organization of consumption. This was achieved with the aid of a few essential conditions. First, the monetarization of family economic resources through wages, credit and welfare policies, and the consequent rise in monetary income, generated discretionary income (Katona, 1964). Secondly, the generalization of the urban way of life destroyed the possibility of economic self-sufficiency for the domestic unit. Finally, the organization of the advertising industry, which triggers and directs individual desires, contributed to a high level of consumption (Galbraith, 1978; Ewen, 1976).
The consumer culture also presupposes the belief that well-being is achieved through material affluence (Scardigli, 1983). In addition, it implies the conviction that the desired goods are readily available and accessible, determined only by access to monetary resources. Furthermore, once the identity of the individual is associated with what is consumed, rather than with what is produced, the consumption of commodities becomes the preferred medium to negotiate self-identity (Slater, 1997). Consequently, the objects that characterize the consumer culture are progressively less associated with basic needs and increasingly chosen for non-utilitarian symbolic motives, such as status seeking. Katona (1964) argued that higher living standards appear to set the stage for higher aspirations. In other words, the consumer culture is about what we want, rather than what we need.
Variants of this classic model have been observed, especially in non-Western societies. In many developing countries, the evidence shows that the consumer ethos spread before basic needs were met (Belk, 1997; Sklair, 1991). To be desirable, a commodity must be perceived by the individual as making sense. Advertising and modern institutions such as schools and factories play a crucial role in this respect, not only by diffusing information on the use of consumer goods, but also by promoting new lifestyles and creating new needs. New wants, according to Duesenberry's (1949) classical formulation of the demonstration effect, may thus be triggered when consumers learn about a superior mode of consumption, which shifts upward the propensity to consume. This theory has been used to explain the emergence in developing countries of a "standard package" of goods associated with the Westernized lifestyle (James, 1993). New wants may indeed be driven by a desire to emulate or outdo the peer group, thereby contributing to the negotiation of one's social position. Thus, the demand for manufactured goods often results in the rejection of local products and an increased dependence on the market and monetary resources. In a context of material constraints, this may jeopardize the quality of the diet and threaten the well-being of individuals (Belk, 1997; James, 1993). However, the power of advertising and non-traditional institutions operates more effectively under certain conditions. The anonymity created by urban life, for instance, predisposes individuals to accumulate and spend money for their own benefit, whereas in smaller rural communities, individualistic behaviours are comparatively discouraged (Belk, 1997).
In sum, affluence is only one condition that fuels the development of the consumer culture and the adoption of a consumer ethos. As many authors have argued, citing examples from non-Western societies, changes in consumption and economic behaviours tend to create circumstances that influence further developments in the economic sphere. The power of cultural specificities, population size, level of influence wielded by traditional institutions, and the proximity and intensity of external pressures are important factors that affect the ways in which new values and norms of conduct penetrate (Classen and Howes, 1996; Hamilton, 1994; McCracken, 1988).
The Inuit and Consumer Culture
To juxtapose the terms "Inuit" and "consumer culture" may appear incongruous. Indeed, stereotypical representations of the Inuit eating raw meat or navigating the frozen waters of the Arctic Sea in their kayaks to hunt large sea mammals are at odds with the images of the consumer culture, which evoke a vibrant urban life with its advertisements and manufactured products. However, the Inuit are no longer nomads and they no longer live in igloos. Although many Inuit hunt whales and seals and a majority of them eat raw meat, they also hold wage-earning jobs, use credit cards and are fond of fried chicken, like many other Canadians. Do these characteristics indicate that Inuit society has shifted toward the consumer culture?
The Inuit make up the vast majority of the 10,000 inhabitants of Nunavik, the northernmost part of the Canadian province of Quebec (see Figure 1). Until recently, this population had remained relatively isolated from the rest of the continent. Although manufactured goods made their entry into the daily life of the Inuit prior to the 20th century, it was only after 1920, through the fur trade, that the Inuit were intensely exposed to imported goods. Their participation in this economic enterprise entailed a progressive transformation from their traditional ways of life towards a semi-sedentary lifestyle, one which has resulted in a greater dependence on commodities, especially in relation to food, clothing and production equipment (Graburn, 1969; Turner, 1979). When the fur industry began to collapse in the 1930s, earnings from the fur trade were slowly replaced by government assistance, and later, in the 1960s, by wage-earning jobs. In 1973, wages were the main source of income in most of the villages (Simard, 1982). Two decades later, wages were by far the principal monetary source of income (Duhaime, Chabot and Frechette, 1998). The 1960s also saw an increase in expenditure, stimulated by an overall progressive rise in monetary income, greater access to imported goods and the complete sedentarization of the population during the same period. For instance, in the 1960s retail sales were the main source of income for the Hudson's Bay Company, which had formerly been involved mainly in the fur trade (Simard, 1982). In 1983, personal expenditure for goods and services was estimated at more than $9,000 (Duhaime, Frechette and Robichaud, 1999).
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
In spite of the monetarization of the family's economic resources, today household production remains a vigorous activity. For instance, in 1995 Inuit households, on average, harvested over a ton of edible country food, including sea mammals, caribou, fish and berries. This food was obtained locally and used mainly for local and household consumption (Duhaime, Chabot and Frechette, 1998).
In 1975, the Inuit of Nunavik signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) with the provincial and federal governments. The implementation of the JBNQA has greatly contributed to the transformation of the Nunavik economy over the last 25 years, through substantial injections of public money into the local economies. Unlike the situation in developing countries, the Inuit of Nunavik are directly and much more intensively exposed to the values and goods of a dominant, wealthy society. What impact has this economic and social environment had on the diffusion of a new ethos among the Inuit? This paper seeks to explore this question by analysing the current consumption behaviours of Inuit households in Nunavik.
Method
This study is based on an analysis of Inuit household budgets for 1995. The budget included monetary and certain non-monetary transactions made by the adult members of the household. An Inuit household comprised all the people, generally related, living in the same house at the time of the survey, according to the list of tenants and the list of beneficiaries of the JBNQA, as provided by the local administrations. These lists, supplemented by secondary information obtained from key informants, were used to select potential participants.
Using a nonprobabilistic sampling, data was collected from a sample of Inuit households selected from two villages in Nunavik....
|
