PENGEFORMER BLANDT FATTIGE FORBRUGERE I DANMARK

Abstract

The first half of the article presents critical analyses of the existing “consensus” within

consumption studies, namely that consumption is primarily about symbolism, freedom

of choice and lifestyle, by introducing dissenting voices (Carrier & Heyman; Löfgren;

and Lodziak) arguing for a revival of a more political-economic framework. The author

proceeds to argue that by using a broader framework of both qualitative and quantitative

money (Zelizer), it is possible to focus on the interplay between material and immaterial

dimensions at work in contemporary processes of social differentiation. The second

half of the article consists of an empirical analysis of consumption patterns and forms

of money in poor Danish families. This reveals a widespread tendency among the poor

families to earmark the limited amount of money available with the result that they

have no “free money” at all. The earmarking is a way to control money according to

different principles, e.g. use value, temporality, beneficiaries of pursuits (children/

parents), material form (electronic money versus paper money) and moral discourses.

The tendency to conceptualise money in terms of qualitatively different currencies,

however, also places poor citizens in a position outside mainstream consumption

regimes, in contrast to existing discourses on consumption in contemporary Danish

society.