S/S/55. 'Consumption is an inherently creative activity'. Critically evaluate this statement.

The leading theme of this paper is consumption. The first social scientists focused almost exclusively on production and they did so for a very good reason: the importance of production used to be far greater in the past than it is now. Consumption is ubiquitous in post-modern societies and since it is often defined as "appropriation" the range of artefacts which can be consumed is almost limitless. The question is: has consumption evolved into a creative and active process? The nature of consumption has changed, it is both active and creative but within socially defined limits.