The American Sociological Association section on Consumers and Consumption was inaugurated at the annual meeting of the ASA in 2013 in New York City. The seeds of this organization were sown by The Consumer Studies Research Network, a group founded by an interdisciplinary set of scholars and researchers to illuminate the roles of consumer goods and consumerism in shaping virtually all forms of social life and interaction in today’s world. In the mid-1990s some of these scholars began the process of institutionalizing this subfield within the discipline of sociology by hosting sessions at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
As a group we have conducted and published ground-breaking research in the area of consumer studies, and on topics such as the intersection of consumption and identity, branding and marketing, ethical consumption and consumer activism, and the connection between consumer culture and systems of inequality. Now, our organization is hosted by the American Sociological Association, but we continue to enthusiastically welcome the participation of scholars and researchers from other disciplines and from beyond academe.
Members of the ASA can join this section by logging in to their member account. From your Member Portal, click the link “Join a Section”. You can join the Consumers & Consumption section for just $10 annually! (Students $5).
Section Leadership
Chair, 2021-22
- Laura J. Miller, Brandeis University, lamiller@brandeis.edu
Secretary/Treasurer, 2019-22
- Patricia A. Banks, Mount Holyoke College, pbanks@mtholyoke.edu
Chair-Elect, 2021-22
- Yasemin Besen Cassino, Montclair State University, beseny@mail.montclair.edu
Past Chairs
- Michaela DeSoucey, North Carolina State University (2020-21)
- Richard E. Ocejo, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center (2019-20)
- Jennifer Smith Maguire, University of Leicester (2018-19)
- Ashley Mears, Boston University (2017-18)
- Juliet Schor, Boston College (2016-17)
- Frederick Wherry, Yale University (2015-16)
- Sharon Zukin, Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center (2014-15)
- Dan Cook, Rutgers University (2013-14)
Social Media and Communications Coordinator
- Carla Cunha, carlaalexa1193@gmail.com (2018-22)
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
- Boniface Noyongoyo, noyongoyo@marshall.edu (2020-22)
Council Members
- Cassi Pittman Claytor, clp77@case.edu (2020-22)
- Erin McDonnell, erin.mcdonnell@nd.edu (2020-22)
- Hannah Wohl, hwohl@ucsb.edu (2021-23)
- Dustin Stoltz, dss219@lehigh.edu (2021-23)
Student Representatives
- Jordan Foster, jordann.foster@mail.utoronto.ca (2020-22)
- Alana Haynes Stein, alstein@ucdavis.edu (2021-23)
Nominating Committee
- CHAIR Yasemin Besen-Cassino (chair), beseny@mail.montclair.edu
- Nino Bariola
- Clayton Childress
- Erin McDonnell
- Hannah Wohl
Communications Committee
- Jordan Foster (Scholars’ Conversations)
- Tim Rosenkranz (Scholars’ Conversations)
- Alana Haynes Stein
Membership Committee
- Cassi Pittman-Claytor
- Michelle Weinberger
Program Committee
- CHAIR Tad Skotnicki tpskotni@uncg.edu
- Kaitland Byrd
- Nate Chapman
Distinguished Scholarly Book Award Committee
- CHAIR Michaela DeSoucey mdesoucey@ncsu.edu
- Jordan Foster
- Amy Hanser
- Merin Oleschuk
Student Paper Award Committee
- CHAIR Laura Miller lamiller@brandeis.edu
- Ryan Calder
- Alex Hoppe
- Ken Kolb
- Dustin Stoltz
Consumers & Consumption 