[pt] Vivemos em uma época marcada por grandes transformações tecnológicas e conseqüentemente por muitas mudanças subjetivas. Nos dias de hoje, é possível perceber o significativo aumento de usuários de celulares na nossa sociedade. O mercado multiplica-se rapidamente revelando um cenário em franca expansão. Este estudo objetiva, principalmente, investigar como os jovens da classe média do Rio de Janeiro lidam com questões como a obsolescência, o consumo e as freqüentes inovações tecnológicas no campo dos aparelhos celulares. Para alcançar esse objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa com 15 jovens de ambos os sexos. Esses jovens tinham, em média, 26 anos de idade. Quase todos eram profissionais com nível superior e usuários assíduos de celulares há mais de 5 anos. As entrevistas foram realizadas on line, através do programa de conversação MSN Messenger. A análise dos depoimentos dos participantes revelou o papel central que os celulares vêm assumindo. A maioria dos entrevistados admite ter o celular por perto e ligado o tempo todo. No que se refere ao consumo de celulares, contudo, os depoimentos foram contraditórios. A maioria dos entrevistados fica com o mesmo celular um curto período de tempo, alegando os mais diferentes motivos para trocar de aparelho. Afirmam que se deve mudar de celular somente quando este pára de funcionar. Mesmo assim, trocam de aparelho muito antes do tempo previsto. As razões para esse comportamento estão, principalmente, no fato de eles se sentirem fortemente atraídos pelas freqüentes inovações tecnológicas dos aparelhos. / [en] We live in a time of ever-increasing technological changes. Nowadays, we can clearly see a significant growth in the number of cell phone users, which shows how fast the this market is expanding. The purpose of the present study was to find out how middle class young people deal with the obsolescence, consumption and constant innovations in cell phones. To reach this goal, a qualitative study was carried out with 15 young people, both male and female, whose average age was 26. Most of them were professionals and had a university degree. All had been intensively using cell phones for more than 5 years. The interviews were carried out on-line through the MSN Messenger chat program. The results showed that cell phones play a central role in their lives. Most of the interviewees admitted that they always carry their cell phones and never switch them off. However, in what concerns their consumption, the participants` statements were contradictory. Most of the interviewees keep the same model of cell phone for a short period of time, providing a host of different reasons for changing it. They all say that a new model should be bought only in case of malfunction of the previous one. However, all of them admit changing phones long before this happens. And the reasons for this behavior lie in the fact that they are attracted by the constant technological innovations.

This thesis examines the issues of body, embodiment and indentity in relation to the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The duality between speech and embodiment is explored in depth, both in the story of the novel and in the author's narrative style. Furthermore, the issue of power in relation to the society as well as towards one's own identity is discussed.

This thesis focuses on the British music scene in the 1960s. Popular music was one of the main manifestations of consumerism and influenced the behavior of most young people. The aim of the thesis is to explain the extent in which popular music played a role in the establishment of a consumer society and, above all, the impact caused by interpreters and music groups on the lifestyle of their listeners and audiences.The thesis also examines how the British music developed in the Sixties and how it was characterized.The thesis is based on the assumption that the 1960s' is a key decade in the postwar history of modern society, a time when fundamental changes occurred in the value systems of most Western societies, notably the British. New generations of young people associated with economic prosperity surfaced at that time, fostering the development of the phenomenon of consumer society, thus changing people's lifestyles.The first part of the thesis is dedicated to economic and social assumptions of the development of the consumer society. The second part of the thesis addresses the social structure of the British society, focusing on the youth - arguably, the social extract that was most appealed by popular music. The core part of the thesis analyses the British music scene in the 1960s, with focus on the music groups and also the music industry and its impal on the lifestyle of youth.

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This qualitative diploma thesis deals with a specific view of art from the perspective of social science disciplines and in connection with the environmental problems of today. The theoretical part of the work is devoted to selected social and cultural concepts of the contemporary world, especially consumer society, waste and art, which puts in the context of the climate crisis. It describes the attributes of consumer society, the consequences of overproduction and consumption in the form of waste, which I further look through with the artistic eye. It addresses the social functions of art, its anchoring in social consciousness and the relationship with science. The empirical part of the work offers a view of the artistic environment, especially young artists on the climate crisis in both personal life and creation. It describes their motivations and limits leading to the sustainable implementation of the concept or activist approach to the audience in order to contribute to a better society. The work thus deals with the important role of artistic creation in our society. Keywords mass production, consumer society, climate change, recycling, waste material, art, activism

This study was conducted by using a qualitative textual analysis on UNICEF Sweden’s website with the purpose of problematizing the role of UNICEF Sweden in today’s globalised society. This was done in the context of how organisations of civil society have gained influence. Following questions were answered: How does UNICEF Sweden legitimise its operation? Which strategies does UNICEF Sweden use to encourage involvement and donations? The study shows how UNICEF Sweden legitimises its work by promoting a unique influence, their unique methods of work and by showing how the organisation helps the most disadvantaged children. This is interpreted as strategies to establish donor trust. UNICEF Sweden encourages involvement and donations by packaging relief efforts into products that conveys a sensation of helping others, which can be understood in relation to the consumer society. UNICEF Sweden’s role in society appears to be significant. It is problematic though that the donor phenomenon tends to simplify the social problems and reduces aid efforts into commercialised products. / Denna studie genomfördes med kvalitativ textanalys av UNICEF Sveriges hemsida i syfte att problematisera den roll som UNICEF Sverige spelar i dagens globaliserade samhälle. Detta inom kontexten av att civilsamhällets organisationers inflytande har ökat. Följande frågeställningar besvarades: Hur legitimerar UNICEF Sverige sin verksamhet? Vilka strategier använder sig UNICEF Sverige av för att uppmana till engagemang och stöd? Studien visar att UNICEF Sverige legitimerar sin verksamhet genom att hävda sitt unika inflytandet, sin unika arbetsmetod samt genom att påvisa att organisationen hjälper de barn som är mest utsatta. Detta tolkas som strategier för att etablera givartillit. UNICEF Sverige uppmanar till engagemang och stöd genom att förpacka hjälpinsatser till produkter som förmedlar en upplevelse av att hjälpa, vilket kan förstås i relation till konsumtionssamhället. UNICEF Sveriges roll i samhället framstår som mycket betydelsefull. Emellertid är det problematiskt att givandefenomenet tenderar att förenkla sociala problem samt reducerar hjälpinsatserna till kommersialiserade produkter.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of consumer socialization. Socialization is influenced by four main factors, which are the media, family, peers and school. The aim of this work is to examine the role that the media play in the process of consumer socialization. The media are examined in the context of other factors that are inseparable from each other and therefore cannot be studied separately. The theoretical part deals with the phenomenon of consumption and consumer society, which are a prerequisite for consumer socialization. It also presents basic knowledge in the field of socialization, the media as a socialization factor and, last but not least, existing knowledge and research associated with consumer socialization. Through qualitative interviews with children aged ten to twelve, data were collected, which was then interpreted by thematic analysis. The analysis shows that children reflect their consumption and consumer desires by what is happening or seen in the media. The media itself is also consumed by children, but in the environment of new media it is often a matter of prosuming, ie that children are both producers and consumers of media content. In the process of consumer socialization, the media can be perceived as a significant actor and at the same time as a link that...

To the Economic and Political Development of the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s (Pavel Szobi) Abstract The thesis deals with the economic development of the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s. It characterizes the basic elements of real socialism and implementation of the main SED strategy for the studied period - the so called Unity of Economic and Social Policy. It evaluates single aspects and the impact on the political stability of the regime. The thesis determines effects of energetic policy, external debt and lack of foreign currency on the national economy. The author does not consider the economic failures, but the dictatorship itself to be the main reason for the regime decay. Restriction of human and civil rights, together with comparing the standard of living with the Federal Republic of Germany led to the rise of social policy expenses and an extensive subvention of the so called consumer socialism. These courses of action enabled to stabilize the GDR temporarily; however, it also made the main defects of central planning more visible. Not only a modern consumer society failed to form, but even supplying population with random goods remained an issue which is well documented in the thesis on the example of the so called coffee crisis. The author comes to the conclusion that these...

This thesis deals with advertising images. It contributes to discussion about position of image in present visual field. It also speaks about influence of image on contemporary society. The starting point and theoretical basis are Visual studies. The main ideas are applied to two different constructs of reality, both are tendentious. The first is vision, ideologically and politically constructed during authoritarian socialist regime. The second is current globalized consumer society. In the practical part of the thesis, the analysis focuses on the advertisements of Skoda Auto Company, used in both mentioned visual modes in the Czech Republic in the 20th century. Key words: picture, visual studies, iconology, advertising, globalization, consumer society, propaganda, image.

This work deals with the indebtedness of consumers. It examines the causes of the debotrs themselves. Based on a secondary analysis of past research in the area of financial literacy, consumer behavior, statistical data, but also of qualitative research in the form of case study seeks to answer the question why the debtor becomes the debtor, the extent to which the indebtedness and indebtedness viewed as rational behavior but also if the debtor is accompanied by rational reasoning or irrational behavior. It concludes that the debtor can not be considered entirely rational. Applied policy then the issue of over-indebtedness problem takes into account the irrational assumptions by the debtor only marginally and does not reflect as one of its main causes.