kopfmaennchen

At the ISPP 31st Annual Conference in Paris, 09.-12.-07.2008, I will present a theoretical framework based on Foucault and Baudrillard which hopefully offers inspiring insight into what by some authors is called „postmodern consumer society“. The aim is bringing together Jean Baudrillards early and groundbreaking analysis of Consumer Culture (first published in 1970) with Michel Foucaults concept of neoliberal Governmentality in a concept of what I call the „Governmentality of Lifestyle“.

Combining Foucault’s concept of neoliberal governmentality, Baudrillard’s analysis of consumer culture and developments in market research etc., one can see new kinds of power relations evolve within and across societies. Governmentality of lifestyle is the pattern of interindividual and intergroup power relations. Especially political and psychological research has to be done to trace the impacts of such a new power relations on individuals as well as on societies.

Consumer Culture unfolds to full scale. Today, signs and not the good behind the signs are the most important selling factors. The style of everyday life becomes a powerful means of creating identity and social affiliation in postmodern societies. Social Milieus – large groups of people not only sharing patterns of modern stratification, but also interests, consumer patterns, and even styles of arranging personal relationships – shape postmodern societies, which are characterized by lifestyle-driven segmentation patterns.

Social Milieus also became one of the most powerful means to identify target groups in todays market-research. Data are captured by research, bonus programms and creditcards and . This development goes far beyond the dicussions referring to the protection of data privacy and surveillance, as such techniques are already implemented and, of course, used to create transparent consumers. Taken together, all these developments form a complex of power relations of the Governmentality of Lifestyle.

I am really glad that the ISPP section chairs for new theoretical and methodological developments have accepted both of my paper proposals. I am looking forward to it – not only because the conference is held at Paris but also because of the possibility to discuss some of the stuff I think is belonging to my better ones. Short abstracts of both papers will be posted in an instant.

It turned out that the topics – Consumer Culture, Social Milieus and the Governmentality of Lifestyle – are hot. One could have thought that the ideas of a wired mind in its tower of science are a little bit less close to reality. Then I read an advertisment in “Spiegel online” about the 13th German Trend Day.

To my surprise i read about things that sounded familiar to me: The Economy of Attention is dead, so they say. In the eyes of the authors – obviously concerned with market and trend research – the future is social recognition, because we all are social creatures, want to be liked, respected and loved. Therefore, they say, we need the applause of our self chosen relatives to secure our status. This includes the shift from the former main question “Who am I?” to the new one: “Who do I want to be?” in an age of dynamic identity engineering. Very interesting though. First thing I thought was: Ok. Thats not new for me. But then I became aware that I seemed to have detected a real development in real life that shapes the future of our societies. One more reason to discuss this all.