| Abstract [eng] |
Consumption, consumer culture, and consumerism are the constructs that form the theoretical basis of the dissertation. Consumption is understood as the conscious act of the subject associated with a benefit category. To be more specific, it is an everyday practice, routine, in which individuals fulfill their needs through the act of consumption. In a consumer culture, consumption objects and practices become the principles that structure individuals; objects and practices of consumption, characterized by symbolism, asymmetrical power relationships, and commodification, shape social identity under conditions of consumer culture. Symbolism is understood as a content fragment of a consumption object value. The symbolic value in the context of consumer culture often marginalizes the functional value of a consumption object, thus the symbols associated with particular objects become consumption objects. Symbolism, in turn, presupposes the existence of an entity, the consumer, who is able to recognize and act upon the symbolic value of an object. In the dissertation, consumerism is understood as values and morality inherent in consumer culture – an ideology that supports, promotes, begets, and is oriented towards consumption practices. The analysis of socialization and identity formation (in the context of consumer culture) issues has revealed that not all individuals are equally surrendered to and affected by consumerism. Therefore, the concept of consumerism expression intensity, which expresses the degree of consumerism, is formulated in the dissertation analysis. The thesis assumes that different intensity of consumerism expression leads to different approaches to the same object. The consumption object (in the context of consumer culture) can be anything: a cell phone, a car, clothes, and even marriage or higher education. In all these cases, the assumption of the investigation should be valid, i.e., entities should treat these consumption objects differently, depending on the intensity of consumerism expression. The dissertation investigates whether the intensity of consumerism is related to the attitude towards housing. Housing is conceptualized as an object of consumption in the dissertation. The conceptual link between consumerism and housing becomes the concept of consumer object value because consumption, as a conscious act, becomes – 6 – meaningful due to the consumer object value. Consumerism expression is possible only if an object of consumption is present. Therefore, the dissertation does not examine consumerism in general. Instead, the expression of consumerism in a specific context is investigated. The context of the empirical study covers the development and trends of Lithuanian housing market. The dissertation carries out a retrospective analysis on the housing context, starting from the period of the Soviet occupation, when Lithuania was intensively urbanized just as the whole Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, the state was responsible for providing housing for the population – the absolute majority of residents rented accommodation from the state, i.e. they were tenants, not the landlords. The domination of the state was determined by both economic (planned economy) and ideological (communism) factors. The major changes took place in Lithuania after the restoration of independence and implementation of a massive housing privatization program, which lead to the fact that the vast majority of housing became the private property of residents. Private housing property, in turn, shaped the market, whose further development was influenced by financial capital and neoliberal ideology. The latter has brought together the notion that housing is a consumer object, which is bought and sold on the market in response to demand and supply. Considering housing as an object of consumption presupposes the value of that object. The dissertation analyses three aspects of housing value: functional, symbolic, and investment. The functional value of housing is associated with the instrumental consumption that essentially defines value by the comfort category. The symbolic value of housing is associated with symbolic consumption that characterizes the value of housing by lifestyle, personal identity, and social status categories. The investment value of housing is related to the concept of commodification that characterizes the value of housing by the price change over time. Analysing the investment value, the status of housing ownership is taken into account. It is because property owners and tenants are different groups of consumers, whereas the ownership and rent are different ways of consuming housing considering materialism, the image of a good life / well-being, and other features of consumerism. The dissertation explores residents‘ attitudes towards the above-mentioned aspects of housing value. The empirical study is based on the assumption that the intensity of consumerism expression leads to different attitudes towards housing. Therefore, the intensity of the consumerism expression is an analytical instrument of the empirical study of the dissertation. It is a criterion that allows evaluating the differences in the intensity of the consumerism expression and residents different attitudes towards housing as a subject of consumption, resulting from these differences. The assumption of the research distinguishes two analytical categories – consumerism (intensity of consumerism expression) and housing (object of consumption). Both analytical categories are based on the choice to investigate the population of the major cities in Lithuania. The consumerism expression is generally associated with the metropolitan area because the diversity of consumer practices (not only of housing) are most expressed and visible here. Shopping malls, modern office buildings, blocks of flats, and cottages have been built in the major cities in Lithuania; suburbs have grown significantly as well. Since these changes are the most noticeable in the major cities of Lithuania, it was a purposeful choice to study their residents. |
