A adolescência no mercado: como o sistema de provisão molda o consumo de vestuário

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how the capitalist system of provision shapes the meanings and practices of clothing consumption among adolescents, using the Systems of Provision (SoP) approach as its theoretical and methodological framework. It begins with a critique of orthodox consumption theories, which view consumers as rational and isolated agents, disregarding the material, symbolic, and institutional structures that shape consumption. Based on focus group discussions conducted with adolescents from different social classes in Salvador (Brazil), the study reveals how clothing consumption is marked by inequalities, tensions, and ambivalences, functioning as a form of identity expression, belonging, and social distinction. By applying Bayliss and Fine’s 10Cs (2020a), the research identifies the multiple meanings attributed to clothing and highlights its constructed, contextual, contradictory, commodified, and contested nature, among others. It concludes that adolescent fashion consumption is deeply rooted in power structures, cultural practices, and market logics, emphasizing the relevance of the SoP approach for critically analyzing material culture in contemporary capitalism.