?
Как потребители воспринимают рынок: цинизм и индивидуальное сопротивление (на основе интервью с москвичами)
This research seeks to investigate how consumers interpret their place in the market system and how consumers act upon these perceptions. By drawing from 54 interviews with a diverse sample of Moscow residents, this article explicates three key categories – presumption of guilt of market players, (ir)responsibility of the state and proactive consumer behavior. Interviews suggest that Consumers infuse market with moral meaning and have a strong sense of appropriateness. Consumers have a generalized idea of market players born within the commonsense world of everyday life and it produces a relay of signification and interpretation. Consumers’ problems or grievances in the past may result in blaming market players. Habitual way of interaction with market players was described in terms of confrontation or rivalry. Tensions between market player and consumers are expected to be resolved by an impartial party – state representatives. Consumers’ expectations to be protected by a government indicate victim-based consumer identity. Adopting a concept of cynical reason by P. Sloterdijk, the author offers a category “consumer cynicism” capturing mundane suspicion and disappointment in the relationship between consumers and market players. Yet consumers’ vigilance and alertness paradoxically create a sense of security and self-affirmation. Moreover, consumer cynicism fuel proactive consumer behavior. Trying to fight back market injustice, consumers' choices are governed by a principle “do not overpay” for financially stable informants and the principle “do not go broke” for those who struggle with money. Saving and coping are interpreted as a choice rather than financial necessity. Proactive consumer behavior is conceptualized as a form of individual resistance. Tactical everyday resistances allow to protect one’s interests yet entail a perception of being less powerful. The author discusses three understandings of saving and coping: survival, game and calculation.