Lifestyle media and social transformat ion in Asia

Abstract

Across Asia, the past three decades have been marked by shared experiences of hyper-accelerated social, cultural and economic transformation. Consumer culture plays an increasing role in countries once dominated by socialism, and neo-liberal economic and social policies increasingly are being adopted by authoritarian statist regimes. More and more, governments address their citizens as individualised, sovereign consumers with reflexive 'choices' about their lifestyles and identities. One of the correlates of these processes of (neo-) liberalisation has been the emergence of new formations of consumption-oriented middle classes with lifestyle aspirations that are shaped by national, regional ..