ABSTRACT
This article will examine representations in contemporary British lifestyle television which express ambivalence about the benefits of a work-dominated, consumerist mode of living, and where a quest for alternative pleasures or practices drives the narrative. Rather than focusing on clearly contestatory voices and practices, such as environmental and anti-capitalist campaigns, groups or internet sites, I am looking at ‘mainstream’ media texts driven by commercial imperatives. My purpose here is to argue that ambivalent consumerism can be seen as a cultural continuum, a set of discursive networks which function across a range of differentiated sites, and are not confined to alternative or marginal contexts.
