Body, Class and Consumption, 7.5 credits

Main field of study with advanced study

60 credits, including at least 30 credits in Media and Communications Studies. English 6. Exemption of the requirement in Swedish is granted.

The course is included in the program Media and Communications Studies: Focus Health 180 credits, and is also given as a single subject course.

The course objective is that the student acquires knowledge and skills to critically reflect upon the relationship between class, consumption and the body, drawing on perspectives from media and communication studies and cultural sociology. More specifically, the student is expected to develop a theoretical understanding of how bodies and consumer goods of various kinds communicate and express identity, lifestyle and status in everyday life, but also of the ways in which this process is part of a wider social context marked by socially structuring forces such as class, gender and ethnicity. The objective is also that the student develops analytical skills and a critical approach as to the ways in which different bodies, consumption patterns, identities and lifestyles are ascribed with different value in society, the central role of the media in this process, and the implications of this for people’s health and well-being. Finally, the student is also expected to develop a critical approach to consumption in relation to questions of sustainability.

Following successful completion of the course the student should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

• Explain and exemplify how bodies and consumer goods communicate identity, lifestyle and status in everyday life and clarify how this is shaped by socially structuring forces such as class, gender and ethnicity
• Identify and analyse the significance of mediated communication for how different bodies, consumption patterns, identities and lifestyles are unevenly recognised in society as well as its potential use in different groups’ political struggle for recognition

Skills and ability

• Apply theories and concepts from media and communication studies and cultural sociology in order to analyse the role of media in the process whereby the value of different bodies, consumption habits, identities and lifestyles is decided, maintained and renegotiated in society
• create and present a media production as part of a realistic working life scenario
• Summarise, interpret and critically discuss current research relevant to media and communication studies on the relationship between class, consumption and the body together with other students
• Use English for oral and written academic communication

Judgement and approach

• Problematise the role of media in the social attribution of value and distribution of recognition to different groups and critically reflect upon its implications for people’s health and well-being
• Critically reflect upon the relationship between consumption and sustainability

The course presents theoretical perspectives from media and communication studies and cultural sociology on the relationship between class, consumption and the body. It addresses how different bodies and consumption habits signify different identities, lifestyles and social positions, as well as how these tend to be ascribed with different value in society at large. The course has a special focus on the ways in which media representations of different bodies, consumption patterns, identities and lifestyles are central to this attribution of value and distribution of recognition to different groups, but it also treats internet and social media as a space for critique of prevailing value hierarchies and a resource in struggles for recognition. The course also discusses how the uneven distribution of recognition affects people’s health and well-being, as well as the ways in which today’s consumption society entails difficulties in terms of sustainability. The course combines theoretical studies with practical exercises and continuously considers questions of equality, diversity and sustainability.

The teaching consists of lectures, seminars and exercises, as well as teaching and communication via the university’s online education platform.

The examination consists of a group assignment and an individual assignment which are presented in writing and orally at mandatory seminars, as well as an individual written examination.

If there are special reasons, the examiner may make exceptions from the specified examination format and allow a student to be examined in another way. Special reasons can e.g. be study support for students with disabilities.

Course evaluation is part of the course. This evaluation offers guidance in the future development and planning of the course. Course evaluation is documented and made available to the students.