Abstract

BERMUDEZ, Emilia. Malls: Territorios y objetos de consumo simbólico en la construcción de representaciones de identidades juveniles: (Un estudio cualitativo sobre algunos grupos de jóvenes en la ciudad de Maracaibo, Venezuela). Rev. argent. sociol. [online]. 2008, vol.6, n.11, pp.96-120. ISSN 1669-3248.

This article explores how youths turn malls into spaces and objects of symbolic consumption while in the process of building their own identity and difference representations. The research analyzes sociability and rituality processes as well as their practices and histories, using a qualitative ethnographic method. Data collection is based on direct observation and in-depth interviews. The paper argues that spatial practices of youths in malls allow us to understand how they make sense of those global spaces inventing new territories to meet and be together as friends, and how they make these global territories coexist with other urban spaces.

Keywords : Malls; Symbolic spaces; Territories; Identities; Youths; Symbolic consumption.

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