Moralizing of consumption in wartime Ukraine

• In Event: 20203 - Discerning Consumers across Race, Class, and Moral Divides

Abstract

This paper takes a Zelizerian approach to understanding the meanings of economic transactions and the moral contestations over consumption decisions and money use in the context of the war in Ukraine. Crises like public scandals, pandemics and wars offer a unique window to understand how money, spending and economic transactions are moralized. When the country is at war, using money to pay for extravagant or even non-essential may elicit backlash because this contradicts with what it means to be a good citizen and support one’s country. Some Ukrainians in fact demand austerity in everyday life in solidarity with the sacrifices on the frontlines. Many more are angered by the amount of money Ukrainians pay to access Russian digital content. The frequency and bitterness of these debates illustrates the widely shared idea that money spent on morally wrong ends undermines the relationship a citizen has to their country that is fending off an unjust aggression. But there are also disagreements about what this means precisely, as some, particularly business owners, call on consumers to continue buying to support the economy, and, indirectly, the frontlines and affected civilians. Extreme contexts like wars provide a unique window to study how moral boundaries around proper and improper spending of money are created, negotiated and contested.

Author

• Alya Guseva, Boston University