Product Code Database
Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology. It has been described as " intentionally and meaningfully excluding or cutting goods from one's consumption routine or reusing once-acquired goods with the goal of avoiding consumption". The ideology is opposed to consumerism, being a social and economic order in which the aspirations of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those necessary for survival or traditional displays of status.
Anti-consumerism is concerned with the actions of individuals, as well as businesses where they act in pursuit of financial and economic goals at the expense of the perceived Common good. Commonly, anti-consumerism is connected with concern for environmental protection, anti-globalization, and animal-rights. Post-consumerism, the prioritization of well-being over material prosperity, is a related ideology.
Anti-consumerism can be seen as an extension of postmodern society, supporting a "decentralized culture", rejecting a hegemonic cultural imperialism of globalisation and consumption, and responding to negative impacts of consumption on the environment. Further, it has been observed that: "While almost all contemporary critics of and activists talk of the need for an environmentally sustainable mode of living, many also focus intently on how the consumerism driving overconsumption undermines our sense of well being and happiness; contributes to a culture of overwork, haste and instantaneous gratification; underscores a bland cultural homogenization of life; and fragments communities and social relationships."
Predictors of anti-consumerist attitudes and behaviors at an individual level include concerns about environmental pollution or disruption of ecological balance, a desire to live a simple life, and a belief that a search for happiness should come from internal factors.
The diversion of libidinal energy toward the consumption of consumer products, he argues, results in an addictive cycle of consumption, leading to hyper-consumption, the exhaustion of desire, and the reign of symbolic misery.Stiegler, B. (2011) "Pharmacology of Desire Drive Based Capitalism And Libidinal Dis-Economy"
/ref>
Examples of anti-consumerist works include the book No Logo (2000) by Naomi Klein, and documentary films such as The Corporation (2003), by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, and (2003), by Erik Gandini.
In the context of protest art, Banksy, an influential British graffitist, painter, activist and filmmaker, has created satirical and provocative works about the consumerist society. Examples include "Napalm", an attack on Walt Disney Pictures and McDonald's, and "Show Me the Monet", among many others. In his 2004 book Cut It Out, Banksy writes, "You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs."
A key argument for these movements is the need for both personal and systemic changes. Many activists, such as George Monbiot, emphasize that overconsumption is a root cause of global crises like climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. Efforts like upcycling and reducing plastic waste are part of broader campaigns aimed at creating sustainable consumption patterns. Moreover, critics of unchecked consumerism argue that solving these issues requires more than individual action; it also necessitates economic restructuring to lessen dependence on constant consumer spending. One crucial aspect of this movement is the call for "voluntary simplicity," which advocates for reducing material needs to reduce environmental impact. This is reflected in policies from international bodies like the United Nations, which has highlighted the importance of sustainable consumption in its development goals. By embracing a mindset of reducing consumption, both individuals and institutions can significantly lower emissions and resource use, addressing environmental challenges more effectively than through green technologies alone.
Anti-consumerists claim that in a consumerist society, advertisement images disempower and objectify the consumer. By stressing individual power, choice and desire, advertising falsely implies the control lies with the consumer. Because anti-consumerists believe commodities supply only short-term gratification, they detract from a sustainably happy society. Further, advertisers have resorted to new techniques of capturing attention, such as the increased speed of ads and product placements. In this way, commercials infiltrate the consumerist society and become an inextricable part of the culture. In a review of research on materialistic values and goals, Tim Kasser (2016) argues that the pursuit of material possessions can lead to short-term gratification at the expense of long-term well-being. Anti-consumerists condemn advertising because it constructs a simulated world that offers fantastical escapism to consumers, rather than reflecting actual reality. They further argue that ads depict the interests and lifestyles of the elite as natural; cultivating a deep sense of inadequacy among viewers. They denounce the use of beautiful models because they glamorize the commodity beyond the reach of the average individual.
In an opinion segment of New Scientist magazine published in August 2009, reporter Andy Coghlan cited William Rees of the University of British Columbia and Epidemiology Warren Hern of the University of Colorado at Boulder, saying that human beings, despite considering themselves civilized thinkers, are "subconsciously still driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion... an impulse which now finds expression in the idea that inexorable economic growth is the answer to everything, and, given time, will redress all the world's existing inequalities." He argues that consumerism is making these tendencies worse by encouraging consumption without limit.
Supporters of anti-consumerism often accuse advertising of attention theft, i.e. they believe it unjustifiably invades public areas, thereby imposing itself on people who consider its presence unwanted. American graphic designer Sean Tejaratchi expresses his resentment of this "ad creep" in a 1999 issue of his clip art zine Crap Hound: "Advertising increasingly invades my environment instead of letting me come to it on my own terms when I need it... The most powerful and well-funded methods of mass communication in history have been used to create a one-way, unending flow of shit into my life... In the twenty-eight years since I was born, I've been subjected to a stunning amount of advertising, and I don't recall anyone ever asking me if I minded."
Anti-consumerism has paved the way for a "subvertising" (also known as culture jamming) movement, which uses artistic and political strategies to protest modern forms of publicity; acts of "subvertising" include "removing advertising from public spaces, tweeting to inform the city's mayor of illicit advertising practices, recuperating posters from bus stop advertising panels, producing critical advertising guides, documentaries or organising public workshops."
Furthermore, this is emphasised by the trend that a nation is unable to obtain wealth via consumption, which inevitably translates to entire resource absorption; Production is therefore what grants consumption as a possibility to begin with, given that a producer would not be working towards revenue, if not one's consumptive desires in their own expenditure discretion. Moreover, the Austrian School dictates that the determinative estimate of goods and services motivate the demand for these commodities in order for their prices to be influenced by consumers.
Others have often hinted towards rivalry amongst consumers, in that all parties, producer and consumer alike, behave in an entrepreneurial manner; The latter's market process interpretation is assumed to have provided the entrepreneurial role only to the producer. This is further emphasised upon when the consumer's absence is highlighted, whereby the sparse knowledge available, likewise with the producer's ability to calculate in gathering information as opposed to the government doing so - a direct laissez-faire correlation - the consumer Consumer choice, and thus astray. This was subject to heavy debate during the Interwar period, in what was known as the socialist-calculation debate. The status of the consumer has rarely been of any discussion in Austrian economics since. However, it has drawn attention to some limited degree in relation to production, with practitioners in the field having abused consumer rationality, as well as recognising their abstinence from market elucidation.
Developments within consumption theory of the movement were published in specialized journals. Most of the expenditures area was addressed by consumer choice adaptations within the markets field against Keynesianism. Incentives and prices were represented in playing a prevalent role that determined decision making, directly pointing against individual demand, discerning how prices as regards to costs and income affect Demand
Labour markets are often focused upon two features, opportunity cost of leisure as well as wage rate; When wage rate increases, it hints that labourers are willing to work more and it concludes with them entering the labour force. Irrespective of the presumed incentivisation, the contrary is entirely possible, whereby workers work less and consume further leisure. Because of these interrelations, it is reasonable to determine that wage rates and labour supply both relate positively, albeit negative for opportunity of leisure. Nevertheless, the theory argues for gradual wage increase over time within a competitive labour market.9781108478441 . ISBN 9781108478441 This is viewed by some as an early feature of new classical theory, since it has some relation to the real business-cycle theory in technological innovation, whereby implementing automation is often similar with becoming reliant over technology for economic output.
There have also been socialist critics of anti-consumerism who see it as a form of anti-modern "reactionary socialism", and state that anti-consumerism has also been adopted by ultra-conservatives and fascism. Anti-consumerist stances, which strictly focus on criticising the forceful expansion of unnecessary needs in place of genuine desires under capitalism, have been criticised by Marxists as being ignorant of the historical and social nature of needs and a deviation from Marx's own point of view concerning consumerism. Rather than being incompatible with left-wing political ideologies, it has been argued that "it is not the working class that needs to be liberated from consumerism, or in other words their own material desires, but that consumerism should be liberated from capitalism".
In her book "Authenticity Guaranteed", Sally Robinson provides a feminist critique of anti-consumerism. She articulates that the stances of anti-consumerists reflect a hierarchical gendered framework which concerns preservation of masculinity in its purest form from the feminine social mechanisms of consumerism that curtails masculine agency and authenticity. Citations of films such as Fight Club as an often anti-consumerist exemplary, according to her, presents consumerism as a crisis of masculinity in general. An anti-consumerist critique relies on the assumption that consumer culture is inauthentic and de-individualizing; therefore, it must also identify and delineate what constitutes the authentic and the individual.
In studies about whether anti-consumerism has been effective, it has been proven that for teenagers and young adults, the culture of media and their relationship often makes it difficult for them to reject consumerism. Science Daily has a report on this, and states that it is either because they have little independence to develop their own agenda, or because they are dependent on their own consumer activities (e.g. bars, clubs and shops) to retain some independent income.
In the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, the protagonist Patrick Bateman criticizes the consumerist society of America in the 1980s of which he is a personification. Later on he goes on a killing spree without any consequences, suggesting that the people around him are so self-absorbed and focused on consuming that they either do not see or do not care about his acts.
In the Pixar movie, WALL-E, Earth is depicted in an apocalyptic state caused by the negative effects of human consumerism.
|
|
