‘Bringing with us the plague’: Consumer Research as Machinery of Zoomorphism

Abstract

This paper explores the hermeneutic argument that Freud's theories created a theoretical blueprint that became determinative of liberal consumer culture, and does so by analysing texts by Ginzburg, Zaretsky, Gellner, and Curtis. With reference to Agamben's work on animality, a theoretical framework is then developed to suggest that the consumer subject that emerges is subtracted of rationality and political ability, and hence is best thought of as an animal. Armed with this theoretical lens, the field of interpretive consumer research is assessed for signs of zoomorphism, and the political consequences are considered.

Keywords:

• anthropomorphism
• zoomorphism
• Freud
• frame
• modernity
• post-politics

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Jacob Ostberg and Detlev Zwick for inviting me to their universities to present and discuss the work. Also special thanks to Robin Canniford and Daniel Pick for their comments.