رفتار مصرف کننده طبقه کارگر در ملبورن و بوئنوس آیرس، پاریس از آمریکای جنوبی Working-Class Consumer Behavior in “Marvellous Melbourne” and Buenos Aires, The “Paris of South America”

Introduction Historical archaeological studies in the past have extensively explored consumer behavior (e.g., Mullins 1999; Spencer-Wood 1987). Some researchers have looked internationally to compare results (e.g., Brooks 2002; Lawrence 2003) and others have stressed the importance of such comparisons (e.g., Murray and Mayne 2001; Orser 1996). However, when dealing with urban sites within the British Empire, comparative studies in the past have tended to focus on other British colonies, former British colonies and Britain itself, at least in the English-speaking literature (e.g., Crook 2011; Karskens 2003; Klose and Malan 2000). Recently, researchers have highlighted the potential of South American urban archaeology for broadening our understanding of consumer culture and global interactions during the nineteenth century (e.g., Brooks and Rodríguez 2012). This paper extends the approach by comparing consumer behavior at two sites, Casselden Place in Melbourne and La Casa Peña in Buenos Aires, focusing on consumer behavior and transnational trade. In order to investigate consumer behavior, it is necessary to explore the role of consumer choice. The concept of consumer choice was established as a means of understanding why particular goods are chosen for acquisition over others. This has been explored in the past by a range of disciplines (e.g., Appadurai 1986: 3; Douglass and Isherwood 1980: 72; Spencer-Wood 1987). In essence, many of these studies have made the connection between the acquisition of goods and the outward expression of the self. Exploring choice in consumer behavior has the potential to reveal much about people’s daily lives. However, it is important to recognize that choice may in fact be limited by a range of factors including class (Wurst and McGuire 1999) and ethnicity (Mullins 1999). This paper investigates the role of choice, class, and ethnicity in consumer behavior and argues that although all of these factors contribute to consumer behavior, they were overshadowed in the nineteenth century by larger forces such as globalization and accessibility of cheap, mass-produced goods.