Against naive materialism: culture, consumption and the causes of inequality

Economic orthodoxy is narrowly materialistic in that it largely neglects the cultural significance of commodities. Taking as its starting point Sen's work on capabilities, the paper examines modern consumer theory and argues that consumption is an inherently complex activity that requires considerable knowledge and expertise and which cannot be adequately understood from an individualist point of view. It is argued that interpersonal comparisons are consequently more complicated than is suggested in Sen's work on capabilities, and that an inquiry into the cultural aspects of consumption encourages a reappraisal of the role of preferences and sheds light on the deeper causes of inequality.