“Consumecracy”. Political Consumerism as a way of citizen participation

Abstract

Political consumerism is a form of participation in which citizens use the market to express their political concerns. Making the purchase of a product (buycot) or not (boycott) is a justified personal decision based on ethical values, environmental or political concerning the procedures performed by companies or governments. New technologies and different information media affect the scope of this type of political mobilization given the growing importance of transnational social networks and online communities, which contribute to the formation of the public opinion and to the participation in a new "sub-political" space. So we are interested in: a) critical or conscious consumers transforming their purchase habit in political habit, and b) the context through which they obtain the information, and the different actors, activists and social movements with which they participate, transforming the market into a public arena and a subject of claims for the practice of democracy. This article therefore aims to: concepualize consumer involvement from the perspective of sociological theories of modernity, present some of the methodologies used to measure and evaluate the influence of political consumers, and see to what extent their empowerment trough the market might approach a "consumecracy''.