Abstract

CASTRO, Ana Lúcia de. Senses of consumption and symbolic boundaries: an ethnography of low-income groups in a township of the greater São Paulo, Brazil. Etnográfica [online]. 2016, vol.20, n.1, pp.101-117. ISSN 0873-6561.

The article presents a reflection about the impact of having access to consumption in the sensibilities and daily practices of a new group of consumers, recently constituted in Brazil. It attempts to understand to what extent consumption assumes different meanings within this low-income class, at times distant from seeking distinction and / or emulation as pointed out, repeatedly, by sociological explanations. Taking the symbolic dimension of consumption as an analytical key and focusing on the circulation of goods and brands - associated with a middle-class universe, its uses and new meanings -, the ethnography aims to understand the concept of middle-class expressed in the perceptions of individuals belonging to lower classes residing in a suburb of São Paulo. This leads to a reflection on how the inclusion of this group in the consumer market would allow these new consumers to build, or not, a sense of belonging to an alleged “middle-class” or establishing symbolic boundaries, both internally and externally to the group.

Keywords : consumption; identity; social distinction; urban groups; symbolic re-signification.

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