The Buddhist Style in Consumer Culture: From Aesthetics to Emotional Patterns
Abstract This paper contributes to the sociological theorization of religious lifestyles in consumer culture, analyzing one of its most important identity markers: style. Based on a three-year comparative ethnographic research project into five convert Buddhist organizations in France and the Czech...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Journal of religion in Europe
Year: 2021, Volume: 14, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 28-54 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
France
/ Czech Republic
/ Buddhism
/ Aesthetics
/ Consumer behavior
/ Emotion
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BL Buddhism KBG France KBK Europe (East) |
| Further subjects: | B
Middle class
B consumer culture B Lifestyle B Aesthetics B Buddhism in Europe |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Abstract This paper contributes to the sociological theorization of religious lifestyles in consumer culture, analyzing one of its most important identity markers: style. Based on a three-year comparative ethnographic research project into five convert Buddhist organizations in France and the Czech Republic, it finds that style is expressed through aesthetics with its adornment practices apparent in everyday life materializations of Buddhist symbols. The stylistic dimension is also found in practitioners’ attitudes towards Buddhism, as they may use the discourse of taste. Moreover, Buddhist style stands for the collective, coherent, and systematic emotional patterns expressed in Buddhist symbols, individual and collective experiences, and the ethics and behavior they display in everyday life. The paper also explores how this style is adapted to the educated, middle-class, city-dweller practitioners and how it respects dynamics of consumer culture with its emphasis on identity, style, and values of well-being, authenticity, and personal development. |
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| ISSN: | 1874-8929 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion in Europe
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/18748929-20211488 |