„The Refugee Consumer. Paradoxes of Integration in Everyday Life“

International Conference at the University of Siegen
6 December 2019, 9.30 a.m. – 6.30 p.m.

Research on the intersection of consumer and refugee studies is still an emerging field of research, but nevertheless it covers a promising subject. This applies, on the one hand, considering the interrelation between western consumer patterns (and their corresponding production structure) and forced migration due to e.g. climate change. On the other hand, the cross- and transcultural perspective in refugee studies holds a crucial potential for consumer sociology, which focuses heavily on western cultures. The gaze of refugees on consumption, as well as their needs of consumption (that they are granted), also enables a critical perspective on psychological needs research as well as on factual normativity, which is embodied in the implementation of human rights in the asylum system. The goal of the conference is to bring together the existing expertise on the intersection of consumption and forced migration and develop new and exciting impulses for consumer acculturation research.

Click here for further information (program etc.).