Gambling and Consumption

This article draws on the findings of quantitative and qualitative research undertaken between 1999 and 2001 which explores the motivations and experiences of National Lottery play amongst a group of working-class women in the UK. It examines the usefulness of current theories of gambling and proposes a link between gambling and contemporary consumer culture. The vast majority of existing analyses of gambling behaviour focus on psychological and economic interpretations and have tended to position gambling as a `deviant' and `dangerous' activity. A small number of sociologists have stressed the limitations of this research by drawing attention to the classed and gendered nature of gambling behaviour. This article complements this research by drawing on current theories of consumption and, in particular, the work of sociologists of household budgeting and money management. Finally, the article explores the ways in which the women made their National Lottery play `respectable', bearing in mind the prevalence of popular critiques of gambling behaviour which do not sit comfortably with norms of budgeting and money management.