Consumer Culture in india
India's Changing Consumer Economy: A Cultural Perspective
Alladi Venkatesh, University of Califomia, Irvine time and effort over a period of several years. Their interpretations may be different from those of indigenous scholars but they are nevertheless well-informed and well-founded. Although I am an
Indian by birth, I couldn't have gained the knowledge required for my work without doing field work in India for sufficiently long duration (seven months) and studying the relevant literattire that provided me with impxjrtant theoretical insights needed to interpret my empirical observations.
ABSTRACT
As India moves from a production oriented mixed economy to a consumer society, thexe is a need to understand the forces behind this transition. In this paper, I examine a number of cultural and social Üiemes accompanying the consumerist trends in India. Although India remains in the bottom half of the world economies, there is every reason to believe that this is not likely to last long, for many structural changes aie evident including the transformation of the middle class which is at the vanguard of the consumer revolution.
RISING CONSUMERISM IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION
This papjer examines the changing consumer scene in India.
Unlike some of the other Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, and Taiwan, where the "consumer revolution" has already forged ahead, or is in progress, India has been a slow starter in this push for change. However, recent trends suggest that a wave of consumerism is spjieading to India also. This paper is based partly on my ethnographic field work conducted in Madras, a
Southern Indian city of apjproximately five million people, and partly on a reading of secondary sources. ThLs should be considered work in progress and, therefore, only some initial ideas are presented here. The reader is also referred to other related works undertaken by the author (Venkatesh 1994/95 a, 1994/95b; Venkatesh
and
Alladi Venkatesh, University of Califomia, Irvine time and effort over a period of several years. Their interpretations may be different from those of indigenous scholars but they are nevertheless well-informed and well-founded. Although I am an
Indian by birth, I couldn't have gained the knowledge required for my work without doing field work in India for sufficiently long duration (seven months) and studying the relevant literattire that provided me with impxjrtant theoretical insights needed to interpret my empirical observations.
ABSTRACT
As India moves from a production oriented mixed economy to a consumer society, thexe is a need to understand the forces behind this transition. In this paper, I examine a number of cultural and social Üiemes accompanying the consumerist trends in India. Although India remains in the bottom half of the world economies, there is every reason to believe that this is not likely to last long, for many structural changes aie evident including the transformation of the middle class which is at the vanguard of the consumer revolution.
RISING CONSUMERISM IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION
This papjer examines the changing consumer scene in India.
Unlike some of the other Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, and Taiwan, where the "consumer revolution" has already forged ahead, or is in progress, India has been a slow starter in this push for change. However, recent trends suggest that a wave of consumerism is spjieading to India also. This paper is based partly on my ethnographic field work conducted in Madras, a
Southern Indian city of apjproximately five million people, and partly on a reading of secondary sources. ThLs should be considered work in progress and, therefore, only some initial ideas are presented here. The reader is also referred to other related works undertaken by the author (Venkatesh 1994/95 a, 1994/95b; Venkatesh
and