In an era of globalization, capitalism has strengthened its important role in the world economy. It not only serves as an economic force that shapes our economic life, but also serves as a cultural force that shapes our cultural life. In recent years, there is an increasing research literature on the emotional dimension of capitalism which focuses on how the emotions are shaped, managed, manipulated, and distributed in the consumer culture and creative industries as well as the tremendous impacts of emotional culture, emotional consumption, emotional labor and emotional management.
This course will explore the emotional dimension of consumer culture and creative industries. It will focus on how emotions are experienced, represented and produced in the industries. Drawing on different types of consumer cultures and creative industries, this course will examine various kinds of emotions such as pleasure, fear, grief, hate or terror in the construction of individual and social life. The course will also discuss how emotions are deployed in current philosophical, social and political debates.

Understanding Emotional Capitalism: From Consumer Culture to Creative Industries