Abstract
A STUDY ON HOMEBOUND YOUTH IN TURKEY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF HOMO CONSUMENS
This study analyzes the socio-cultural transformation of youth in Turkey who are confined to a home-centered life, within the framework of Erich Fromm’s concept of “Homo Consumens.” Digitalization, economic fragility, gender inequalities, and cultural norms have led young individuals to disengage from productive processes and become passive subjects defined by consumption. In particular, the phenomenon of NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) youth reveals how young people in Turkey are pushed out of the system and condemned to a cycle of digital consumption. Employing a qualitative, multi-layered analytical framework, the study critically examines the consumption practices, digital identity construction processes, and socio-economic vulnerabilities of young individuals. Fromm’s concept of “Homo Consumens” conceptualizes consumption not merely as an economic activity, but as a means of producing identity, belonging, and meaning. In this context, the study highlights young people’s efforts to assert subjectivity through digital media and the cultural exclusion they encounter in the process. The deepening digital isolation in the post-pandemic period has weakened youths’ social ties, increased their psychological vulnerabilities, and transformed them into invisible laborers of digital capitalism. The tension between dependence on the family, the search for individual autonomy, and the demands of consumerism creates significant dilemmas in the identity construction and social positioning of youth. Accordingly, this study investigates the transformation of youth from productive
agents to consumption-based figures, and emphasizes the need for inclusive and transformative social policies to ensure their social integration.
Keywords
Homo Consumens, Consumer Culture, Homebound Youth, Digitalization
