Presentation from the project „Discrimination, Emotions, and Consumer Behavior“ (DEVGAV)

What does discrimination feel like in the routines of everyday consumption, and how do people navigate, resist, or absorb it in their daily lives?

The research project DEVGAV  focuses on situations where discrimination becomes tangible, when young women wearing headscarves are criminalized by store detectives, when older people are driven to frustration by digital banking systems and shopping apps, or when wheelchair users face annoying barriers to public transport. Drawing on narrative interviews with people from diverse social backgrounds, we trace how discrimination is embodied, sensed, and acted upon in these encounters. We identify recurring affective movements such as shock, oscillation between anger and sadness, irritation, and uncertainty about whether an incident was discriminatory at all. These tensions often lead to subtle behavioral adjustments, like exaggerated friendliness, avoidance, or withdrawal, which serve as forms of emotional self-protection and as attempts to re-establish agency, but can also give rise to collective action and legal mobilization. Building on these preliminary findings, we ask how consumer organizations might better support the emotional lives of discriminated consumers and develop best practices for doing so.

Join us as we discuss how everyday discrimination is felt, negotiated, and potentially transformed—emotionally, socially, and politically.

Language: English