Transient Consumption: The Future for Meaning, Value & Experience (Campus)

This is a hybrid event. To join online, access tickets here.

This presentation traces the evolution of consumption culture from its initial ideological roots to the present day, where arguably culture and the cultural practices (i.e., consumption) used to negotiate everyday life are defined by impermanence. The paper presents 'transient consumption’ as a contemporary form of consumption, that is not marked by the pursuit of meaning, but rather, something else. Perhaps transient consumption just is, because consumption has become the quintessential cultural practice, and that to which we turn to feel complete. The paper analyses the evolution of this phenomenon and discusses the implications for cultural systems such as fashion, brands and the future for our cultural conceptualisations of meaning, value and experience.

Dr Paddy Lonergan (Manchester Metropolitan University) is a multi-disciplinary researcher whose interests extend across brand culture, consumption and innovative research methodologies. Most recently, he has finished his first monograph entitled Brands, Hallelujah! Affective Encounters with Sensory Capitalism, and a further paper in Marketing Theory that applies the methodology of ‘onflow’ as a way of better capturing and articulating the multi-sensory constituents of everyday experiences. 

The Talking Through F/fashion seminar series provides a collaborative and intellectually rigorous forum for interdisciplinary researchers to explore how fashion shapes the narratives through which individuals and communities construct their personal and collective identities. These seminars showcase both established and emerging scholarship, encompassing diverse historical periods, geographical contexts, and methodological approaches—from empirical studies to theoretical frameworks and practice-based research. Our goal is to foster international dialogue and partnership among scholars interested in examining and critically engaging with fashion's role in identity formation and storytelling. The seminar is hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University’s F/fashion Narratives Research Group.