Seminar on Consumption, Markets, and Culture Theorization

April 20-26, 2017

Stockholm, Sweden

This is a weeklong intensive seminar that emphasizes mid-range and contextualized theory in the field of socio-cultural approaches to marketing and consumption. We have been running this seminar at Bilkent biennially. But, this year, we will be conducting the seminar not in Ankara but in Stockholm, April 20-26, 2017. This change is due to the security concerns and certain limitations due to the current political situation in Turkey. 

The seminar aims to stimulate interest in and discussions of contemporary forms of historical, socio-cultural and political-economic analyses of markets, consumption and marketing. The intended audience is doctoral students and junior faculty members; however, anyone interested is welcome.

The seminar is part of European Doctoral School on Consumer Culture Theorizing.

Objectives of the Seminar: 

1. The goal of the seminar is to familiarize scholars with the socio-culturally inspired studies of market, consumption and marketing or Consumer Culture Theoretics (CCT). The readings and the speakers highlight an interdisciplinary perspective and seek to expose the participants to sophisticated discussions of consumption and markets within marketing, anthropology, sociology, communication, and cultural and gender studies. These discussions center on mid-range and contextualized theory. The seminar emphasizes the historical, socio-cultural, political-economic and ethical dimensions and challenges of consumption and marketing in developed and developing nations in the contemporary global world.  

2. The seminar also aims to enable the participants to conceptualize their work in relationship to the literature. Speakers and participants will discuss what constitutes a theoretical contribution and how to theorize and formulate a contribution. 

3. Another purpose of the seminar is to increase the participants’ awareness of the expectations of international journals and review processes. There will be a faculty panel on “how to publish” research papers. 

Seminar Coordinators:

• Eminegül Karababa, Department of Business Administration, Middle East Technical University, eminegul@metu.edu.tr
• Jacob Osteberg, Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, jacob.ostberg@sbs.su.se
• Guliz Ger, Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University, ger@bilkent.edu.tr

Faculty:           

Russell Belk, York University

Güliz Ger, Bilkent University

Eminegül Karababa, Middle East Technical University

Olga Kravets, University of Royal Holloway

Steven Miles, Manchester Metropolitan University

Jacob Ostberg, Stockholm Universty

Özlem Sandıkcı, Istanbul Sehir University

Roberta Sassatelli, University of Milan

Craig J. Thompson, University of Wisconsin

Location and Dates: 

The seminar will take place at Stockholm Business School’s Kräftriket Campus, located just outside of central Stockholm, Sweden (http://www.sbs.su.se/english/about-us/find-us). The program will begin with an opening reception at the Stockholm Business School’s faculty lounge in the early evening on Thursday April 20th, and the actual seminar will start at 9 am Friday April 21st. The program will end in the early evening of Wednesday April 26th with a joint reception together with the attendees of the 9th Interpretive Consumer Research Workshop that will take place at Stockholm Business School on April 27th-28th. 

The accommodation for the seminar will be in shared double rooms at Generator Hostel (https://generatorhostels.com/en/destinations/stockholm/). The seminar venue is easily accessible through public transportation from the hostel, and a public transportation ticket for the entire stay is included in the seminar fee.

Other course Information:    

The seminar will be held in English and is 6 ECTS credits.  Participants are free to choose to make a presentation and get course credit or not. Those participants willing to present their research projects will receive feedback, be evaluated, and receive course credit.  The number of participants is limited to 30. The tuition and fees for the seminar is 1100 Euros in total. This amount includes participation in the seminar, accommodation, and meals. 

Seminar Prerequisites: 

There are no particular prerequisites for the participants. Selection will be based on the letter of interest, which is expected to address the student’s research interests and the fit of this seminar with their doctoral studies. For those participants who do not want to receive course credit, the letter of interest is expected to indicate their research interests and the reason why they want to participate in the seminar.  The letter of interest should be around 1000 words.  Letters of interest should be sent to cmctseminar@gmail.com as attachments to e-mail messages.  The deadline for applications is 15 February 2017. 

Seminar Program:

The program consists of lectures, panels, presentations, group work, and one-to-one meetings. Participants will receive a reading list upon registering for the seminar. The participants taking the seminar for ECTS credits are required and the others are strongly recommended to do the readings before they come to the seminar.  The participants who wish to receive ECTS credits will make a brief presentation of their research projects. They will be evaluated based on their presentation, participation, and the capacity shown in enriching their perspective.  The details of the program is available here.