From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Consumerism
Consumerism is the equation of personal
happiness with consumption and the pur-
chase of material possessions.
The term is often associated with criticisms
of consumption starting with Thorstein
Veblen or, more recently by a movement
called Enoughism.
Veblen’s subject of examination, the newly
emergent middle class arising at the turn of
the twentieth century, comes to full fruition
by the end of the twentieth century through
the process of globalization.[1]
In economics, consumerism refers to eco-
nomic policies placing emphasis on consump-
tion. In an abstract sense, it is the belief that
the free choice of consumers should dictate
the economic structure of a society (cf. Pro-
ducerism, especially in the British sense of
the term).[2]
History
Consumerism has strong links with the
Western world, but is in fact an international
phenomenon. People purchasing goods and
consuming materials in excess of their basic
needs (subjective) is as old as the first civiliz-
ations (see Ancient Egypt, Babylon and An-
cient Rome, for example).
A great turn in consumerism arrived just
before the Industrial Revolution. While be-
fore the norm had been the scarcity of re-
sources, The Industrial Revolution created an
unusual situation: for the first time in history
products were available in outstanding
quantities, at outstandingly low prices, being
thus available to virtually everyone. And so
began the era of Mass Consumption, the only
era where the concept of consumerism is
applicable.
It’s still good to keep in mind that since
consumerism began, various individuals and
groups have consciously sought an alternat-
ive lifestyle, such as the "simple living,"[3]
"eco-conscious,"[4] and "localvore"/"buy loc-
al"[5] movements.
Consumerism, the promotion of consumer
rights and protection. Subject to the doctrine
of caveat emptor (Latin, “let the buyer
beware”)
1
Consumerism
The older term and concept of "conspicu-
ous consumption" originated at the turn of
the 20th century in the writings of sociologist
and economist, Thorstein Veblen. The term
describes an apparently irrational and con-
founding form of economic behaviour.
Veblen’s scathing proposal that this unneces-
sary consumption is a form of status display
is made in darkly humorous observations like
the following:
"It is true of dress in even a higher
degree than of most other items of
consumption, that people will
undergo a very considerable degree
of privation in the comforts or the
necessaries of life in order to afford
what is considered a decent amount
of wasteful consumption; so that it is
by no means an uncommon
occurrence, in an inclement climate,
for people to go ill clad in order to
appear well dressed." (The Theory of
the Leisure Class, 1899).
The term "conspicuous consumption" spread
to describe consumerism in the United States
in the 1960s, but was soon linked to debates
about media theory, culture jamming, and its
corollary productivism.
“ By 1920 most people [Americans] ”
had experimented with occasional in-
stallment buying.[6]
While consumerism is not a new phenomen-
on, it has become widespread over the course
of the 20th century, and particularly in re-
cent decades. The influence of neoliberal
capitalism has made the citizens of capitalist
countries extraordinarily wealthy compared
to those living under other economic
systems.
Usage
Webster’s dictionary defines Consumerism as
"the promotion of the consumer’s interests"
or alternately "the theory that an increasing
consumption of goods is economically desir-
able". It is thus the opposite of anti-con-
sumerism or of producerism.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Anti-consumerism is the socio-political
movement against consumerism. In this
meaning, consumerism is the equating of
personal happiness with the purchasing
material possessions and consumption.
• In relation to producerism, it is the belief
that the free choice of consumers should
dictate the economic structure of a
society, rather than the interests of
producers. It can also refer to economic
policies that place an emphasis on
consumption.
Criticism
In many critical contexts, consumerism is
used to describe the tendency of people to
identify strongly with products or services
they consume, especially those with commer-
cial brand names and perceived status-sym-
bolism appeal, e.g. a luxury automobile, de-
signer clothing, or expensive jewelry. A cul-
ture that is permeated by consumerism can
be referred to as a consumer culture or a
market culture.
Opponents of consumerism argue that
many luxuries and unnecessary consumer
products may act as social signals allowing
people to identify like-minded individuals
through the display of similar products, again
utilizing aspects of status-symbolism to judge
socioeconomic status and social stratifica-
tion. Some believe relationships with a
product or brand name are substitutes for
healthy human relationships lacking in soci-
eties and along with consumerism are part of
the general process of social control[7] and
cultural hegemony, or social controls in mod-
ern society. Critics of consumerism are quick
to point out that consumerist societies are
more prone to damage the environment, con-
tribute to climate change and use up re-
sources at a higher rate than other societ-
ies.[8]
In a capitalistic market aimed at selling, cer-
tain trends may emerge:
It is in the interest of product advertisers
and marketers that the consumer’s needs
and desires never be completely or perman-
ently fulfilled, so the consumer can repeat
the consumption process and purchase more
products.
Made-To-Break products are more benefi-
cial to the producer, marketer and thus the
entire market, creating the culture of con-
sumerism. Thus, planned obsolescence is
2
Consumerism
embedded in the manufacturing and market-
ing process of new goods and services.
It is even more beneficial for the product
to be part of a continuously changing fashion
market, where items that are new, in good
condition, and can last for many years are
deemed at need of constant replacement by a
conditioned buyer in order to keep in synch
with current trends as they are marketed to
the consumer’s social class and various in-
come level.
In this way steady profits are assured for
the self-perpetuating system, but consumers
are not comfortable or satisfied for a sustain-
able length of time with what they own.
Examples of anti-consumerists/critics of
consumerism include the following people
and references:
1). The Pope speaking out against consumer-
ism [9]
2). Oswald Spengler: "Life in America is ex-
clusively economic in structure and lacks
depth" [10]
3).The French writer Georges Duhamel: he
held "American materialism up as a beacon
of mediocrity that threatened to eclipse
French civilization"[11]
Modern Consumerism in
the 21st century
Beginning in the 1990s the most frequent
reason given for attending college had
changed to making a lot of money, outrank-
ing reasons such as becoming an authority in
a field or helping others in difficulty. This
statement directly correlates with the rise of
materialism, specifically the technological as-
pect. At this time compact disc players, digit-
al media, personal computers, and cellular
phones, all began to integrate into the afflu-
ent American’s everyday lifestyle. Madeline
Levine, criticized what she saw as a large
change in American culture has subsequently
occurred – “a shift away from values of com-
munity, spirituality, and integrity, and toward
competition, materialism and disconnection.”
[12]
Companies and corporations have realized
that rich consumers are the most attractive
targets for marketing their products. The up-
per class’ tastes, lifestyles, and preferences,
trickle down to become the standard which
all consumers seek to emulate. The not so
well off consumers can “purchase something
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
new that will speak of their place in the tradi-
tion of affluence” [13]. A consumer can have
the instant gratification of purchasing a high-
ticket item that will help improve their social
status.
Emulation is also a core component of
21st century consumerism. As a general
trend, regular consumers seek to emulate
those who are above them on the social hier-
archy. The poor strive to imitate the rich and
the rich imitate celebrities and other icons.
One needs to look no further than the
celebrity endorsement of products to dis-
suade the notion that the American popula-
tion makes its own decisions and models it-
self as a group of individualists.
Counter arguments
There has always been strong criticism of the
anti-consumerist movement. Most of this
comes from libertarian thought.[14]
Libertarian criticisms of the anti-con-
sumerist movement are largely based on the
perception that it leads to elitism. Namely,
libertarians believe that no person should
have the right to decide for others what
goods are necessary for living and which
aren’t, or that luxuries are necessarily waste-
ful, and thus argue that anti-consumerism is
a precursor to central planning or a totalitari-
an society. Twitchell, in his book Living It Up,
sarcastically remarked that the logical out-
come of the anti-consumerism movement
would be a return to the sumptuary laws that
existed in ancient Rome and during the
Middle Ages, historical periods prior to the
era of Karl Marx in the 19th century.
See also
• Anthropological theories of value
• Bourgeois personality
• Commercialism
• Consumer Bill of Rights
• Consumer capitalism
• Consumer ethnocentrism
• Consumption (economics)
• Economic materialism
• Enoughism (antonym)
• Geoffrey Miller (evolutionary psychologist)
• "Keeping up with the Joneses"
• Philosophy of futility
• Post-materialism (economics)
• Producerism
3
Consumerism
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less,
a book, Schwartz argues that eliminating
consumer choices can greatly reduce
anxiety for shoppers
• The Century of the Self, a documentary by
filmmaker Adam Curtis released in 2002
• Cost the limit of price
References
[1] Veblen, Thorstein (1899): The Theory of
the Leisure Class: an economic study of
institutions, Dover Publications, Mineola,
N.Y., 1994, ISBN 0-486-28062-4. (also
available: Project Gutenberg e-text)
[2] "Consumerism". Britannica Concise
Encyclopedia Online. 2008.
[3] See for example: Janet Luhrs’s "The
Simple Living Guide" (NY: Broadway
Books, 1997); Joe Dominquez, Vicki
Robin et al, "Your Money or Your Life"
(NY: Penguin Group USA, 2008)
[4] See for example: Alan Durning, "How
Much is Enough: The Consumer Society
and the Future of the Earth" (NY: W.W.
Norton, 1992)
[5] See for example: Paul Roberts, "The End
of Food" (NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2008);
Michael Shuman, "The Small-mart
Revolution" (San Francisco: Berrett-
Koehler Publishers, 2007)
[6] Calder, Lendol Glen (1999). Financing
the American Dream: A Cultural History
of Consumer Credit. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press. p. 222. ISBN
069105827X.
[7] Fool Britannia
[8] Global Climate Change and Energy CO2
Production—An International Perspective
[9] Web log. 17 July 2008.
http://babs22.wordpress.com/2008/07/
17/australia-pope-attacks-consumerism/
[10] Stearns, Peter. Consumerism in World
History. Routledge
[11] Stearns, Peter. Consumerism in World
History. Routledge
[12] Levine, Madeline. “Challenging the
Culture of Affluence.” Independent
School. 67.1 (2007): 28-36.
[13] Miller, Eric. Attracting the Affluent.
Naperville, Illinois: Financial
Sourcebooks, 1991.
[14] A defense of consumerism, as
pragmatically less lethal than religion
and nationalism appears in Charles
Arthur Willard Liberalism and the
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric
for Modern Democracy. University of
Chicago Press. 1996.
Further reading
Books
• Barber, Benjamin R. (2008) Consumed:
How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize
Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. W.
W. Norton ISBN-10: 0393330893
• Chin, Elizabeth (2001) Purchasing Power:
Black Kids and American Consumer
Culture University of Minnesota Press
ISBN 978-0816635115
• Cross, Gary (2000). An All-Consuming
Century: Why Commercialism Won In
Modern America. Columbia University
Press. ISBN 0-231-11313-7. (Paperback,
256 pages)
• Laermer, Richard; Simmons, Mark, Punk
Marketing, New York : Harper Collins,
2007. ISBN 978-0-06-115110-1 (Review of
the book by Marilyn Scrizzi, in Journal of
Consumer Marketing 24(7), 2007)
• Miller, Eric, Attracting the affluent : the
first guide to America’s changing ultimate
market, Naperville, Ill. : Financial
Sourcebooks, 1991. ISBN 0942061233
(from the editors of Research Alert
newsletter)
• Nissanoff, Dan (2006). FutureShop: How
the New Auction Culture Will
Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell and
Get the Things We Really Want. Penguin
Press. ISBN 1-59420-077-7. (Hardcover,
246 pages)
• Veblen, Thorstein (1899): The Theory of
the Leisure Class: an economic study of
institutions, Dover Publications, Mineola,
N.Y., 1994, ISBN 0-486-28062-4. (also
available: Project Gutenberg e-text)
• Whitaker, Jan (2006): Service and Style:
How the American Department Store
Fashioned the Middle Class, St. Martin’s
Press, N.Y., ISBN 0-312-32635-1.
(Hardcover, 352 pages)
• Charles Arthur Willard Liberalism and the
Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric
for Modern Democracy. University of
Chicago Press. 1996.
Video
• Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self,
documentary series.
Journals
4
Consumerism
• Kalle Lasn & Bruce Grierson, Malignant
Sadness, (Adbusters June/July 2000).
• Mona Hymel, Consumerism, Advertising,
and the Role of Tax Policy, 20 Virginia Tax
Review 347 (2000).
• John C. Ryan & Alan T. Durning, Stuff: The
Secret Life of Everyday Things (Northwest
Environmental Watch 1997).
• Susan Strasser, A Social History of Trash,
(Orion Magazine, Autumn 2000).
External links
• Affluenza videos
• The story of the stuff we consume, from
extraction to disposal, by Annie Leonard.
Entertaining, educational 20-minute video.
• Marketplace: Consumed with consumption
interview with Benjamin Barber, author of
Consumed
• "Consumerism in China" by British
Photojournalist Sean Gallagher
• AdBusters, anti-consumerism magazine
• The Disaffected Individual by Bernard
Stiegler
• Fifty Possible Ways to Challenge Over-
Commercialism by Albert J. Fritsch, SJ,
PhD
• Spiritual Materialism and the Sacraments
of Consumerism: A View from Thailand
• The Religion of Consumerism (First
Unitarian Church of Rochester sermon)
• The New Anti-Consumerism
• For teachers:Introductory lecture notes on
consumerism available
• Baudrillard; Consumerism, simulacro y
régimen de mortandad en el Sistema de
los objetos by Adolfo Vasquez Rocca PhD |
in Eikasia
• Verdant.net Ideas and shared solutions for
sustainable & low cost green living
• Freecycle international How to get free
items and give items for free, no money
lost or gained; but also no wastage
Other
• Consumerium Development Wiki: fair
trade, political consumerism, and moral
purchasing trends. These links deal with
’consumerism’ in the sense of ’consumer
activism’.
• Kunkelfruit Wiki, the home for free
articles about how popular products are
made.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Consumerism

• Baudrillard; Cultura, simulacro y régimen • Intolerable Beauty - Portraits of American

de mortandad en el Sistema de los objetos Mass Consumption (Chris Jordan
| Eikasia Photography), artistic photos of mass
• Global Consumer Solidarity Movement consumerism
• The Story of Stuff

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Categories: Anti-corporate activism, Consumer behaviour, Cultural appropriation, Economic

ideologies, Social philosophy, Environmental issues

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