A study on the Contemporary Consumption Culture in Africa: With Special Reference to the Cross-border Trading of Secondhand Products and Copy Products

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24720402
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology/Folklore
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University (2013-2015); National Museum of Ethnology (2012)
• Principal Investigator: Ogawa Sayaka 立命館大学, 先端総合学術研究科, 准教授 (40582656)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 中古品 / 非正規品 / コピー商品 / アフリカ / 中国 / 越境交易 / 消費文化 / モノ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The second-hand products and copy products (counterfeit, knockoff) are commodities that generated from our consumption culture: disposable culture, consumption of image and symbol, and so on. Second-hand products that is consumed and discarded in developed countries is imported to African countries under the pretext of “recycling” or “contributing to the society,”while having a devastating impact on the local industry in African countries. At the beginning of the twenty-first century in Africa, copy and counterfeit from China has started to dominate the African market. These commodities generate “another disposable culture”, while those commodities enable African people consume the latest fashion and technologies. This study uncovered the multi-layered consumption culture by investigating the distribution system and changing values of the secondhand products and copy/counterfeit products from disposal/production in developed countries/China to consumption in Africa.

Free Research Field

文化人類学