Consumatori critici (e integrati)

In Italy, as in most western countries, a growing number of people have started consuming not only according with their personal taste or following economical criteria. Critical consumption stresses the importance of ethical and public criteria as a core value for consumer’s choices. This article focuses on integrative function of consumption. We will show that there are various categories of critical consumers which usually buy fair, sustainable and ethical products. Someone is more sensible to style and fashion of ethical shopping; others consumers look for a better coherence between their values and their everyday life; others ascribe to critical consumption a transformative and political meaning. Grounding our analysis on some classical theories on consumption and élites, we will discuss the main features of the last group of consumers, showing how it can be considered a sort of élite able to bridges emerging values and political roles in the institutional sphere.