The recently introduced construct of consumer sharing is represented as a nonreciprocal, prosocial distribution of resources given without expectation of reciprocity (Belk, 2010, 'Sharing', Journal of Consumer Research 36: 715-34). The approach adopted rests on shaky ontological and epistemological grounds and reproduces an array of problematic modernist dichotomies (e.g., agency/structure, nurturing family/instrumental public, gift/market, and altruism/self-interest) that significantly constrain the analytical enterprise. This work redresses some of the conceptual problems in the current formulation. The critique highlights a focus on resource distribution based on a more holistic, socially grounded perspective on circulation. We offer the alternative concept of mutuality or generalized exchange and the metaphor of inclusion rather than exchange as central to this perspective. We argue this may provide a more sound basis for understanding alternative modes of circulation.
Le concept, récemment introduit, de partage entre les consommateurs est présenté comme une distribution non réciproque et prosociale de ressources données sans échange récent ni attente de réciprocité. La volonté d’élaborer des critères permettant de différencier le partage de l’échange marchand et du don dans le contexte de la culture des consommateurs est sans nul doute séduisante. Elle répond à une crainte envahissante, évidente chez les chercheurs, et aux discours de non-spécialistes selon qui la logique du marché, omniprésente dans les relations sociales, les colonise et peut ainsi avoir une influence même sur la plus innocente des rencontres sociales. Cependant, l’approche adoptée jusqu’ici repose sur de fragiles fondements et reproduit un ensemble de dichotomies problématiques qui gênent considérablement la théorisation.
This study reveals the therapeutic origins of the “good mother” ideal in a rarely studied context, that of transracial adoptive mothering. Using a comparative discursive analysis supplemented by illustrative case analysis, we show that what it means to be a “good mother” in transracial adoptive mothering discourse differs significantly from the ideal established in mainstream mothering discourse. The key differences uncovered relate to publicly contested challenges to legitimacy, the experience of stigma for families adopting children of difference races, and a relative dearth of market‐based solutions to these challenges. We propose therapeutic ideology as a powerful macro‐level theoretical construct capable of explaining the self‐reinforcing cycle of mothers' anxiety, expert advice, and market‐mediated solutions.
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