Camelia Elias

shopping as mediator  materialistic consumption vs. transcendent communion (with the divine)  useful resources and their consumption through expenditure Sacrifice is based upon consumption. Sacrifice is the violent destruction of some otherwise useful resource in an act of expenditure. (Miller)

sacrifice and ritual  constitutes the objects of devotion  as well as communicates with them  the object is not merely consecrated  but consumed or destroyed

opposing transformations  an accumulation in sacralization  gaining sacred power  a move from the sacred to the profane  emphasis on the mundane All sacrifices are based on establishing a relationship with the divine

sacrifice as spectacle  devotional act  self-sacrifice both are constituted by constant re-recognition, the divine itself  “Shopping is a regular act that turns expenditure into a devotional ritual that constantly reaffirms some transcendent force, and thereby becomes a primary means by which the transcendent is constituted” (Miller, 78)

the consumer's purpose  annihilate  destroy  incorporate the objects of desire

identifications  experience of death is withheld  identification with the victim  experience of death  results in the development of humanity

sacrifice as violence  expresses violence as inherent in human kind  acts as a substitute for inherent violence (the scapegoat)  violence is s constitutive element in humanity  the purpose of violent sacrifice is to tame the sacralized powers

sacrifice as consumption  evokes the spending of what has been created  the end point of the labour of production  stresses the value of the sacrificial victim

René Girard Violence stems from:  a certain way of human desiring  manifests itself in peculiar forms of social interactions  a particular form of desire  mimetic, acquisitive mimesis (Violence and the Sacred, 1972)

shopping as violence and sacrifice  a vision of pure excess: all hard work has to be spent (destroyed through consumption)  pointless  destructive  transgressive  Hedonist  self-indulgent  emphasizes devotion  achieves sanctity

 Sacrifice is the negation of the vision of excess  Shopping, though thrift, is the negation the vision of excess in consumption  shopping through consumption creates modern societies