This paper starts by reappraising the theory of practice and considering the issue of consumers' creativity and critique. The theory of consumer action is re-framed both through sociological approaches which place emphasis on the relevance of situated practices with particular emphasis on reflexivity of taste (Bourdieu) and through that branch of heterodox economics (Scitovski) which is ready to deconstruct the notion of consumer sovereignty, stressing the politics of pleasure rather than a paternalistic communitarianism.