The ethics of care as a grammar of action: An analysis of the critical consumption in an alternative market

Authors

  • Felipe da Luz Colomé Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Ricardo Mayer Departamento de Ciências Sociais/ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Sociais da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/csu.2016.52.3.13

Abstract

This article is part of a study that addresses the emergence of critical consumption in southern Brazil. Contemporarily, critical consumption is understood as a multifaceted phenomenon which means the materialization of moral concepts and worldviews on the basis of critical positions in relation to consumption. This study investigated that phenomenon, based on the consumption practices developed within the solidarity economy. Through the contributions of the pragmatic sociology of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot (1991), we analyzed the axiological rationality that underlies the actors’ preferences in alternative markets. Based on these assumptions, from a field research conducted at the fair of solidarity economy of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil, we highlight the motivations and justifications that lead to the constitution of an ethics of care, anchored in the bonds of community membership with an emphasis on primary sociabilities considering the choice of a healthy diet. Thus, in relation to the results of this research, we came across the prevalence of arguments grounded in a moral which privileges the care for the members of the household community. In relation the methodological procedures, we made use of a qualitative approach, and used the techniques of participant observation and semi-structured interviews with people who go to this alternative market.

Keywords: critical consumption, grammar of action, ethics of care, solidarity economy, health.

Author Biographies

Felipe da Luz Colomé, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Atualmente é doutorando em Sociologia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Possui graduação em Ciências Sociais pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (2010) e mestrado em Ciências Sociais pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (2013). Desenvolve investigações no âmbito da Sociologia do Consumo com foco nos processos atinentes às práticas de consumo e participação política.

Ricardo Mayer, Departamento de Ciências Sociais/ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Sociais da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

Atualmente é professor adjunto da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, lotado no Departamento de Ciências Sociais. É também professor permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Sociais da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - PPGCS-UFSM e editor da Século XXI - Revista de Ciências Sociais, periódico do PPGCS-UFSM. Tem experiência na área de Sociologia, com ênfase em teoria sociológica, sociologia política, sociologia do trabalho e sociologia da moral concentrando-se nos seguintes temas: dimensões simbólicas da desigualdade, reconhecimento denegado, protesto social e ação coletiva, conflitos e controvérsias públicas

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Published

2016-07-08

Issue

Vol. 52 No. 3 (2016): September/December

Section

Articles

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