The virtualisation of the economy. Buying food online: consumption, money and work as an event

Abstract

Starting from an economy virtualization concept, where economic practices are defined as de-territorialization processes, and assuming that ICTs (information and communication technologies) make possible new ways for sociality, this paper explores a practice that draws economy as a happening. The acquisition of food through the Internet.
Food purchasing is a singularily affective practice1, which through history has shown different forms of sociality (traditional market purchasing differs from supermarket purchasing). In this paper we explore a new way of buying food, Internet purchasing, analizing in it the economic happening through three axis: consumption, money and work.