ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses an introduction to some general theories of consumption and the consumer. There are two basic elements of significance within the framework of the basic economic theory, that of the consumer and of the commodity, and these elements will be taken up and developed within social theory, hence the overall aim of the chapter goes from the 'economic' to the 'symbolic'. Consequently, it starts with a brief historical overview of the commodity and the consumer for Marx, with his famous notion of 'commodity fetishism', then Veblen and Simmel. The chapter offers the bare bones of the more foundational socio-economic theories of consumption first, before they are fleshed out through examples and case studies of consumption practices that exemplify more complex social and symbolic phenomena such as identity, kinship and everyday life. It also discusses and acknowledges the importance of the consumer and the commodity in global political economy.
