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VOL. 8, ISSUE 2 (2026)
Beyond the practical reasons: Creolization of consumerism, Globalization and tribal communities in India
Authors
Debendra Kumar Biswal, Reetuparna Sahoo
Abstract
The conventional meaning of consumption
justifies the meaningful use of the objects associated with them. The uses can
be mental or material; the objects can be things, ideas or relationships; and
the association can range from ownership to contemplation. However,
anthropological works do not agree with this conventional Economics and Marxian
political economy. While anthropologists recognize that some needs have a
material basis, they stress the fact that need and demand reflect the ways the
objects facilitate social relationships and define social identities. Based
upon empirical data on the impact of consumerism upon the tribes of Southern
Odisha in India, this paper is an attempt to locate the tribal consumers in the
modern globalised market beyond this culturalist orientation in the line of
Baudrillard'scritique of political economy of signs (1981), Sahlin’sidea of
practical reasons (1976), Douglas and Isherwood’s idea of material goods (1978)
and Bourdieu’s idea of distinction (1984). It addresses two major issues: the
meaning and impacts of consumerism upon the marginalized tribal communities of
India. Firstly, denotation or deconstruction of 'consumption' itself, which
seems at times to mean little more than ‘not production’, developed a coherent
view of the subject. Secondly, it was observed that many objects of consumption
come with complex structures of meaning already in them, such as songs and
television programmes, already attached to them through advertising and global
cultural imagery, such as soft drinks and cell phones (rock dance vs. tribal
dance). This paper addresses the ways that these pre-existing meanings affect
those who consume the objects that carry them.
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Pages:182-185
How to cite this article:
Debendra Kumar Biswal, Reetuparna Sahoo "Beyond the practical reasons: Creolization of consumerism, Globalization and tribal communities in India". International Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Vol 8, Issue 2, 2026, Pages 182-185
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