Perspectiva
Print version ISSN 0102-5473On-line version ISSN 2175-795X
Abstract
ESPERANCA, Joice Araújo and RIBEIRO, Paula Costa. Buy, want and desire: discussing elementary school children's narratives on consumption. Perspectiva [online]. 2014, vol.32, n.2, pp.759-790. ISSN 2175-795X. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-795X.2014v32n2p759.
This article discusses the understandings and experiences of childhood as historical, social and cultural constructions, subject to the changes characterizing societies. Connections are established between Childhood Studies, Environmental Education and the propositions of the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman in his examination of the centrality assumed by consumerism in the organization of social life. Therefore, the gaze is turned to the advent of consumerism and childhood settings in contemporary society by analyzing the narratives of a group of elementary school children on consumption. In the narrated experiences, noteworthy are the relationship between consumption and environmental preservation, the pervasiveness of the purchase act in children's daily life as well as the attribution of meanings to objects and consumption practices beyond the material functionality.
Keywords : Childhood; Consumerism; Environmental Education.