The Constitution of Consumption Food Labeling and the Politics of Consumerism
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The Constitution of Consumption Food Labeling and the Politics of Consumerism Carl Yngfalk i ©Carl Yngfalk, Stockholm 2012 ISBN 978-91-7447-433-6 Printed in Sweden by USAB, Stockholm 2012 Distributor: Stockholm University School of Business ii To Anna iii iv Abstract The power dynamics of consumerism is an important aspect of contempo- rary consumer culture. Within the field of marketing and consumption, consumer culture theory (CCT) tends to understand power in terms of agency, the ability of consumers to emancipate from a market infused by the culture of consumerism. As such, CCT assumes a repressive hypothesis of power, as if consumerism was an external reality from which agentic consumers can escape by acts of dialectical opposition. In contrast, through a Foucauldian approach, the present study em- phasizes the productive side of power, arguing that consumerism operates beyond dialectical oppositions to constitute consumption at different levels of scale – at the macro, meso and micro levels. More specifically, through qualitative data generated from official documents and inter- views with state agency officials, consumers, and food manufacturers and retailers, the study undertakes a discourse analysis of date labeling in the food market. In accounting for the regulative, organizational and performative dimensions of consumption, the case of date labeling makes it possible to study consumerism at the intersection of the state, business and consumers. The study argues that consumption is consti- tuted through a multiplicity of mundane power struggles that arise in the wake of date labeling. As such, it extends previous approaches by sug- gesting an extra-dialectical theory of consumer culture. Further, it argues that date labeling reinforces the mind/body dualism of consumerism by privileging cognition and choice at the cost of the human embodiment and sensory perception. It concludes that empowered performativity does not represent a negation of power, but that it emerges as a product of power and the consumerist attempt to constitute effective, predicta- ble, responsible and controlled consumption. However, future research should continue studying the dominant institutional conditions of partic- ular consumption contexts. Keywords: power, Foucault, consumerism, consumption, consumer culture, institutions, markets, dialectical, food labeling, best before v vi Acknowledgements It has been a privilege to write this doctoral thesis. The last four years have not only provided me with time to reflect on matters of society and develop new knowledge, they have also blessed me with the most won- derful wife. Anna, we met our first day as doctoral students. I am grate- ful beyond words for your loving support and for enduring endless dis- cussions about best before dates, consuming bodies and matters of tex- tual progression. Not least, Anna, I am forever thankful to you for con- sidering marrying me. This thesis reflects the contributions of many people. In particular, I wish to give my sincerest gratitude to my mentors, Professors Torkild Thanem and Jacob Östberg. Indeed, I will miss our cheerful meetings always inspiring me to be more precise. Torkild, I thank you for your insightful comments. Your theoretical brilliance and visions about the research process have always been of help. Jacob, I thank you for your impeccable knowledge and skills concerning consumption theory. More- over, I thank you for our motivating chats in times of struggle. This doctoral thesis would further not have existed was it not for Ul- rika Sjödin. Ulrika, it was your unique ability as a teacher to persuade me there was more to best before dates than to fit within a Master's thesis. You convinced me to apply for the research program, I am forever grate- ful to you. I further extend my gratitude to all scholars who commented on earli- er versions of this manuscript. Your feedback helped me to set the course, to close doors and, moreover, it opened up some new ones. Thank you Natalia Tolstikova, Fredrik Nordin, Peter Svensson, Jan Löwstedt, Sofia Ulver, Hans Hasselbladh and Hans Rämö. This project has also given me the opportunity to meet many interest- ing people outside academia who all contributed with their time and ef- fort to answer my questions. The study would not have been possible without you. Thank you to all consumer participants, to the NFA man- agers and to the people at ICA, Coop, Kraft Foods, Pågen, Scan, Pro- vii cordia Foods and Unilever. Special thanks to Lisbeth Kohls at ICA AB and Christina Grenabo at Coop Sweden for helping me establish contact with food merchants and store managers in the Stockholm area. Thanks also to Louise Ungerth at Konsumentföreningen Stockholm for allowing me to learn about your work. I would also like to express gratitude toward my friends and col- leagues at the Stockholm University School of Business, in particular my wife Anna, Susanna Molander and Nishant Kumar. Your daily support and kind friendship provided me with the strength to go on. For being there, I thank the people in the marketing attic and the corridors of house 15, particularly Robert Demir, Kjell Ljungbo, Randy Shoai, Clara Gustafsson, Pamela Schultz Nybacka, Maria Frostling-Henningsson, Magnus Gustavsson, Hanna von Schantz, Anita Radon, Johanna Fern- holm, Mikael Andéhn and Andrea Lucarelli. For giving me the oppor- tunity, thank you Professors Per-Olof Berg, Ali Yakhlef, Sten Söderman, Pierre Guillet De Monthoux, Kaj Sköldberg, Solveig Wikström and Thomas Hartman. For helping me out in matters of administration, thank you Lars Jonsson, Kicki Wennersten, Linnéa Shore, Helena Flinck and Rickard Warfvinge. Last, but not least, my warmest gratitude goes out to family and friends. Thank you to Stefan and Camilla for your loving concern, to my mother and father, Marie-Louise and Jim, for believing in me, and to my dear brothers Jonas and Per for never revolting against me tending to explain social phenomena for you. Finally, I wish to thank all the Fyrberg's for welcoming me into the family and for cheering me through this Marathon. Carl Yngfalk Södermalm, Stockholm January 2012 viii ix x Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CONSUMERISM AND THE MANAGEMENT OF EVERYDAY LIFE 1 RESEARCH PROBLEM: DIALECTICAL CONSUMER CULTURE 5 AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 8 CHAPTER OUTLINE 10 CHAPTER 2: THEORY 12 CONSUMER CULTURE, CONSUMERISM AND DISPOSAL 12 POWER AND CONSUMPTION 17 SOVEREIGN POWER AND AUTONOMOUS CONSUMPTION 18 CULTURAL POWER AND EMANCIPATORY CONSUMPTION 19 DISCURSIVE POWER AND CO-CREATED CONSUMPTION 22 RE-CONCEPTUALIZING POWER AND CONSUMPTION 25 PRODUCTIVE POWER AND DISCOURSE 25 Consumerism as disciplinary principle 27 Consumerism as governmentality and the care of the self 30 Bio-power and the consumerist constitution of consumption 35 MARKETS, INSTITUTIONS AND CONSUMPTION 38 The institutional rationalization of consumption 42 CONSUMPTION AS DISCURSIVE-INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES 44 CHAPTER 3: CASE AND METHOD 46 FOOD LABELING IN THE SWEDISH MARKET 47 A BRIEF HISTORY OF STATE CONSUMERISM IN SWEDEN 47 THE CASE OF DATE LABELING 49 METHOD 50 DATA GENERATION - INTERVIEWS, DOCUMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM THE MARKET 52 Study 1: Regulating consumption at the level of the state 55 Study 2: Organizing consumption at the level of manufacturing and retail 58 Study 3: Performing consumption at the level of everyday life 61 DATA ANALYSIS 65 SOCIAL ONTOLOGY AND EPISTEMOLOGY 68 xi CHAPTER 4: REGULATING CONSUMPTION 71 INTRODUCTION 71 PART I: STATE INTERVENTION INTO PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 72 INVESTING THE CONSUMER WITH KNOWLEDGE 72 The rise of the date label consumer 72 Empowerment through information 74 MAKING THE CONSUMER A CONCERN FOR THE CORPORATION 79 Control through micro-regulation 79 Regulating corporations into controlling themselves 82 PART II: CONSTITUTING EMPOWERED YET CONTROLLED CONSUMPTION 85 THE BIO-POLITICS OF THE CONSUMING POPULATION 85 SUMMARY 90 CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING CONSUMPTION 92 INTRODUCTION 92 PART I: CORPORATIONS STRUGGLING WITH REGULATORS AND CONSUMERS 93 MAKING FOOD SAFE BY MANAGING CONSUMERS AT RISK 93 Enacting control in the interests of the consumer 93 Enhancing control by making food safer for the consumer 103 Assuming a consumer perspective 109 MAKING THE CORPORATION SAFE BY MANAGING CONSUMERS AS RISKS 111 Protecting the corporation by disposing of products as waste 114 BUILDING CONSUMER TRUST 122 Distrusting the consumer 122 Facilitating trust by standardizing food labeling 124 Empathizing with picky consumers 128 DISTRIBUTING CONSUMER RESPONSIBILITY 130 Disposing of products in accordance to date labels 130 Recommending, not deciding for the consumer 134 Blaming the consumer 138 PART II: CONSTITUTING EFFECTIVE, PREDICTABLE AND AGENTIC CONSUMPTION 142 BIO-POWER: ORGANIZING CONSUMING BODIES 142 EFFECTIVE CONSUMPTION 145 Constituting consuming subjects by reducing risk 145 Food labels and the management of everyday consumption 147 The institutionalization of consumerism 149 PREDICTABLE CONSUMPTION 152 xii Constituting consuming subjects by building trust 153 Facilitating consumer trust by managing organizational legitimacy 154 Distrust as the functional equivalent for trust 157 AGENTIC CONSUMPTION 158 Constituting consuming subjects by responsibilization 159 Effecting control at a distance 161 SUMMARY 163 CHAPTER 6: PERFORMING CONSUMPTION 165 INTRODUCTION 165 PART I: CONSUMERS STRUGGLING WITH DATES AND DISGUST 166 THE EMBODIED STRUGGLE WITH INFORMATION 166 DISGUST AS THE EMBODIED TRIGGER 170 DISPOSING BY FORGETTING AND ARRANGING