Inequalities in a Consumerist Society: An Attempt to Intersect Exclusion from Consumption Practices and Negative Emotions

For social practice theories, a shared claim is that practices are structuring social life. Taking this affirmation seriously, this contribution aims at studying how practices seen as ‘normal’ in a Western country (Belgium), such as inviting at home family or friends for a drink, or enjoying a one-week holiday elsewhere, intersect with negative emotions (such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, sadness, sense of emptiness)when they are not performed because of a lack of financial means. Another goal of this study is to examine whether these associations between non-performed practices and emotions are the same according to social class.