[ecrea] CFP: Consumer Practices, Media and Landscapes in South Africa

CALL FOR PAPERS



Consumer Practices, Media and Landscapes in South Africa: Empirical and 
Theoretical Perspectives

A Symposium organized by the Critical Research in Consumer Culture 
(CRiCC) Network

Friday 9 and Saturday 10 November, 2012

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa



South Africa, like many post-authoritarian and post-colonial nations in 
the global south, quickly embraced neo-liberal economic policies and 
globalized consumer culture. Eighteen years after the first democratic 
elections, South African media, culture and society seem to be 
increasingly shaped by economic, rather than socio-political, values. 
Malls have mushroomed, celebrity culture has boomed, the flow of global 
commodities has swelled, and a wide variety of new forms of consumption 
have flourished. This symposium seeks to examine and critically question 
the so-called rise of consumerism in South Africa after the demise of 
Apartheid – is it something new, linked to entry to the global 
marketplace, or was it always there in some form or another during 
Apartheid, now newly democratized? This interdisciplinary symposium 
seeks to bring together current research that examines the many ways in 
which consumerism, consumption and commodities have taken, and are 
taking, shape within the South African context.



Topics and themes addressed could include:



Commodities: Histories, Flows, Mediations

- What are the commodities (material and otherwise) that have particular 
traction in South African contexts?

- How do commodity histories influence their current presence in culture 
and society?

- How do global commodity flows intersect in South African contexts?

- How are commodities presented in South African media spaces, through 
branding, advertising and editorial?

- Which commodities are fetishized in South Africa, and how, and why?

- What are the tensions between desire, acquisition and use of 
commodities (luxury or everyday) in South African contexts?

- How are commodities exchanged, and to what purpose, in South African 
contexts?



Consumption: Practices, Spaces, Representations

- How do different socio-economic groups aspire to, and practice, 
consumption?

- What forms of consumption are unique to South Africa?

- How is consumption discursively constructed in South African media spaces?

- What forms of resistance to consumption take place in South African 
contexts?

- What are the geographies of consumption in South Africa?

- To what extent are the landscapes of consumption semiotic?



Consumers: Identities, Groupings, Influences

- Who consumes what, and how?

- What are the individual and collective identities that are constructed 
through different forms of consumption?

- How do gender, culture, ethnicity and language influence and shape 
consuming identities in South Africa?

- Which ‘types’ of consumers are most prominent in South African media 
spaces, and how does these reflect/construct non-mediated relations of 
power?

- Who are the politicians and celebrities who stand as aspirational 
figures in South Africa?



Papers addressing any of these topics, or in any way broadly relevant to 
the symposium theme, from any discipline, are invited. Participation is 
welcomed from both academic staff and postgraduate students. Address 
enquiries to Mehita Iqani (email address below).



To submit a paper, please send the following to Mehita Iqani 
((mehita.iqani /at/ wits.ac.za)) by 3 September 2012:

- Title of presentation,

- 300 word abstract (for a 20-minute paper),

- Name,

- Institutional affiliation (Department, University),

- Contact details,

- Name of your supervisor, if you are a postgraduate student.



We aim to announce the outcome by 30 September 2012.



Please note that there is unlikely to be a registration fee – and if it 
becomes necessary to impose one, we will ensure that it is very modest, 
and will waive it for participants in need of support. Let us know if 
you are in such circumstances. Catering will be provided, but 
participants will be expected to cover the cost of their travel to, and 
accommodation in, Johannesburg.



About CRiCC



The Critical Research in Consumer Culture (CRiCC) Network is an 
interdisciplinary grouping of scholars from across the social sciences, 
humanities and beyond who are actively researching issues relevant to 
the study of consumer culture, broadly defined. The CRiCC network is 
‘housed’ at the Department of Media Studies at the University of the 
Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa. Its members include 
academic members of staff and postgraduate students from Wits as well as 
the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Although it is currently a regional 
grouping, in that our face-to-face meetings are limited to those based 
in Gauteng, we hope that over time it will expand to welcome scholars 
and researchers from around South Africa.



The CRiCC objective is simple: to engage in debate and conversation 
across disciplines and fields of research on key questions about the 
role of consumerism, commodities and consumption in culture, society, 
economics, and politics. We do this by sharing our views, both 
theoretical and empirical, and always grounded in the research work that 
we have done, are doing, or plan to do. To this effect, we meet every 
two months for an informal, collegiate discussion group. We are 
currently organizing a symposium for the end of the year, which will 
serve as a platform for formal presentations on current research and 
ongoing discussion and interaction.



http://consumerculturenetwork.wordpress.com.





Mehita Iqani



Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Coordinator

Department of Media Studies

University of the Witwatersrand

Johannesburg

South Africa



Room 3064, Senate House

Tel: +27 (0)11 717 4123

Email: (mehita.iqani /at/ wits.ac.za)



OUT SOON: “Consumer Culture and the Media: Magazines in the Public Eye”

Critical Research in Consumer Culture Network: 
http://consumerculturenetwork.wordpress.com/

The Newsstand Project: http://www.thenewsstandproject.org

ITCH Magazine: www.itch.co.za