Design Research and Strategy
We are facing a collective conundrum: how do we continue to consume enough to keep our economic engine rumbling, while at the same time, not consume too much to destroy that very economic engine? This is a contradiction explored by Marx and Polanyi, and now by sociologist George Ritzer, author of The McDonaldization of Society.
Ritzer [...]
Categories: bourdieu · class · luxury goods · sociology
Social media “gurus” abound these days. Which ones are worth listening to and which ones are bullshitters?
Philosopher Harry Frankfurt exposed bullshitters in his famous essay “On Bullshit.” The liar knows what the truth is and cares very much about concealing it. The bullshitter, on the other hand, doesn’t care what the truth is and has [...]
Categories: Popular · Research Methods · bourdieu · class · culture · home · luxury goods · methods · social capital · social media · social networks
Recently the blogosphere blew up over a post by Danah Boyd about classes on MySpace versus Facebook. Boyd contended that each site appealed to differing economic classes. Facebook has a “cleaner” look, some people argued, making it “higher class.” What does that even mean? Well designers, here’s what you need to know about class.
In his [...]
Categories: bourdieu · class · luxury goods · product design · qualitative research