A economia política do consumo e do crédito às famílias: Um contributo interdisciplinar

• Main Authors: Ana Cordeiro Santos, Vânia Costa, Nuno Teles
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2013-09-01
• Series: Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: consumer; consumer behavior; consumer credit; consumer society; personal finances
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rccs/5338
• ISSN: 0254-1106; 2182-7435

This article offers a critical review of the literature on consumerism and household credit, with the aim of identifying the main contributions and disadvantages of disciplinary approaches for understanding the multiple factors that influence these important forms of socioeconomic behaviour. On the basis of this literature review, an interdisciplinary line of research is proposed within the framework of political economics, with a particular emphasis on structural factors, such as the recent transformations in contemporary capitalism which have materialised in the form of an extraordinary growth in the economic and political power of finance, whilst also emphasising relevant social changes such as the increasing dominance of the neoliberal ideology, which promotes an individualisation of the provision of goods and services that favours the financial sector.