Abstract
In the context of post-structuralism discussions about the processes of subjectivation, as well as the works of authors such as Hannah Arendt, Zygmunt Bauman and Jurandir Freire Costa, there is no doubt of the impact of consumption, understood as social practice, in the constitution of contemporary subjects. Thus, an intervention research was designed aiming to open up spaces for discussion and experimentation and to develop an analytical framework of the positions and vicissitudes in the relations between the youth and consumption. The research was carried out at two public schools in Porto Alegre with 35 young students from fourteen to seventeen years old. The discourse analysis of what was said in the meetings was based on the contributions of Michel Foucault. Many issues emerged in the research process, such as strategies for young people to get money, differentiation and social status due to consumption practices, and the internet as a basic need. We analyze the enunciation “to consume is to spend money” which has become speakable given some historical changes (such as the transformation of our relationship with objects), the position of the young as financial dependents of their parents, among other aspects. We conclude the article arguing in favor of initiatives aimed at an education concerning consumption, sustained in an ethical and political commitment to enable other forms for subjectivation. Furthermore, we think it is a challenge to psychology to provide input to this subject, through the production of knowledge and practices, as the theme still has few studies, at least with regard to youth.
Consumption; Youth; Intervention Research; Subjectivity Production; Education Concerning Consumption