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Is Consumer Culture Theory research or realpolitik? A sociology of knowledge analysis of a scientific culture
Author(s) -
Ostergaard Per,
Bode Matthias
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of consumer behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.811
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1479-1838
pISSN - 1472-0817
DOI - 10.1002/cb.1574
Subject(s) - realpolitik , mainstream , sociology , legitimacy , epistemology , sociology of scientific knowledge , social science , political science , law , philosophy , politics
When Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) was introduced by Arnould and Thompson ([Arnould EJ, 2005]) it was part of a strategy to create legitimacy for interpretive research. It was argued that interpretive researchers needed to be more pragmatic in their attitude. This was a fundamental change in the scientific culture in this stream of research. This paper analyses these changes and studies how CCT represents a new and pragmatic attitude. It is shown how the changes intended by CCT can imply a shift from a focus on new groundbreaking research to an awareness of the consequences of realpolitik. This strategic move can be seen as an example of how scientific cultures try to move from a marginal position to the mainstream. The consequences of this attempt to manage science are analysed, and solutions to problems created by these changes are developed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.