Tüketim Sosyolojisinde Sosyal Sermaye ve Habitus: Veblen’in Gösterişçi Tüketiminden Bourdieu’nün Diyalektik Üretimine

Year 2025, Volume: 2 Issue: 4, 70 - 95, 28.11.2025

İnanç Alikılıç

Abstract

Bu makale, tüketim sosyolojisindeki kuramsal dönüşümü, Thorstein Veblen’in “gösterişçi tüketim” (dışsal statü rekabeti) anlayışından Pierre Bourdieu’nün “sermaye” ve “habitus” kavramlarına uzanan bir çizgide ele almaktadır. Mevcut literatür bu geçişi çoğunlukla kavramsal bir genişleme olarak değerlendirirken, bu çalışma daha radikal bir tez geliştirmektedir: Veblen'in dışsal statü rekabetine dayanan, rasyonel ve mekanik modeli, modern tüketimin itici gücü olan sürekli yenilik arayışını ve içsel tatmin mekanizmalarını (öz-yanılsamacı hedonizm) açıklamakta yetersiz kalmaktadır. Bu boşluk karşısında, Bourdieu'nün sistemi sosyal sermayeyi salt bir "ilişki ağı" olmanın ötesine taşıyarak onu, habitusun diyalektik olarak hem üreticisi hem de ürünü olan bir olgu haline getirmektedir.
“Sosyal sermayenin habitusu” olarak adlandırdığımız bu içselleştirilmiş ilişki kurma ve sürdürme biçimi, birey-yapı ikiliğini aşarak, sosyal eşitsizliklerin “doğal” ve “kendiliğinden” yeniden üretiminin temel mekanizmasını oluşturur. Makale, bu ana tezi, Veblen'in eleştirisi ve Bourdieu'nün kapsamlı mimarisinin derinlemesine analizi üzerinden temellendirmekte; beğeni ve sembolik şiddet pratikleri üzerinden somutlaştırmakta ve nihayetinde postmodern "hep yiyenlik" (omnivorousness) ile dijital alan gibi çağdaş sınamalar bağlamında test etmektedir.

Keywords

Pierre Bourdieu , Thorstein Veblen , Sosyal Sermaye , Habitus , Kültürel Sermaye , Gösterişçi Tüketim , Hep Yiyenlik

Ethical Statement

Etik Beyan Bu makale, herhangi bir insan ya da hayvan deneyi içermemekte olup, etik kurul izni gerektiren bir araştırma kapsamında değildir. Çalışma, kuramsal bir analiz niteliğindedir ve yalnızca açık kaynaklı akademik literatürden yararlanılarak hazırlanmıştır. Araştırma sürecinde Yükseköğretim Kurumları Bilimsel Araştırma ve Yayın Etiği Yönergesi’ne uygun hareket edilmiştir. Yazar: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi İnanç ALİKILIÇ ORCID: 0000-0001-9079-8420

Social Capital and Habitus in the Sociology of Consumption: From Veblen’s Conspicuous Consumption to Bourdieu’s Dialectical Production

Abstract

This article analyzes the theoretical shift in the sociology of consumption, tracing a line from Thorstein Veblen’s concept of “conspicuous consumption” (external status competition) to Pierre Bourdieu’s notions of “capital” and “habitus”. While the existing literature tends to view this transition primarily as a conceptual expansion, this study develops a more radical argument: Veblen's rational and mechanical model of external status competition is insufficient to explain the mechanisms of internal gratification (self-illusory hedonism) and the search for constant novelty that drive modern consumption. Confronted with these limitations, Bourdieu’s system moves social capital beyond a mere “network of relations,” transforming it into a phenomenon that is both the dialectical producer and product of habitus.
This internalized mode of establishing and maintaining relations, which we term the “habitus of social capital,” transcends the individual-structure dichotomy and constitutes the fundamental mechanism for the “natural” and “spontaneous” reproduction of social inequalities. The article develops this core thesis through a critique of Veblen and an in-depth analysis of Bourdieu’s conceptual architecture, concretizes it through taste and symbolic violence, and finally, applies and tests it within the context of contemporary challenges such as postmodern “omnivorousness” and the digital field.

Keywords

Pierre Bourdieu , Thorstein Veblen , Social Capital , Habitus , Cultural Capital , Conspicuous Consumption , Omnivorousness

Ethical Statement

Ethical Statement This article does not involve any human or animal subjects and therefore does not require ethics committee approval. The study is theoretical in nature and is based solely on publicly available academic literature. All research and writing processes were carried out in accordance with the Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive and general principles of academic integrity. Author: Assist. Prof. Dr. İnanç ALİKILIÇ ORCID: 0000-0001-9079-8420

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