The Politics of Consumption, a seminar organised by CCSR and held at UEL on May 18th, 2010 was an event intended to bring together experts and early-career researchers from both within and beyond the academy in order to discuss political and ethical issues around changing patterns of consumption in the 21st century economy.

The event featured a number of leading academics in the field – including anthropologist Daniel Miller from UCL, political philosopher Kate Soper from London Met and cultural historian Mica Nava from UEL – as well as the prominent Member of Parliament, Jon Cruddas, and Neal Lawson, the chair of Compass, a prominent organisation which has taken a leading role in social and political campaigns against, for example, ‘the commercialisation of childhood’.

The day was well-attended with over 100 attendees from across the UK as well as a number from overseas, and produced a very lively and engaged debate between proponents of a number of theoretical and political perspectives on the role of consumption and ‘consumerism’.