‘Born to Shop’: Malls, Dream-Worlds and Capitalism

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Pusca, Anca. 2009. ‘Born to Shop’: Malls, Dream-Worlds and Capitalism. Journal of International Relations and Development, 12(4), pp. 370-377. ISSN 1408-6980 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

It has been twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a new generation, untouched by the previous communist regimes, has come to adulthood throughout the post-communist world. The Iulius Group’s logo – ‘Born to shop!’ – suggests that these are born shoppers: the capitalist babies of Central and Eastern Europe who are sustaining the largest growth in retail and shopping malls in Europe. With no living memory of shortages, queuing, or government restrictions, they know only the limit of their own – or their parents’ – pocket/credit. Their world could not be more different from the one that their parents and grandparents experienced: both the abundance of goods and services, as well as the opulent settings under which they are now sold, offer striking visual contrasts to the not-so-distant past. In addition, the very experience of consumption is directly connected to the way in which the current social fabric – and new social divisions within it – is interwoven with the physical and architectural changes taking place in the urban setting.

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Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1057/jird.2009.25