The Rise of Consumerism - Essay Example

Essay Topic Rise of Consumerism Introduction The essay will trace the earliest tendencies of consumerism to the industrial and scientific revolution in Europe. It will also study the socio-economic, political, and cultural factors that have contributed significantly to the rise of consumerism, in the first half of the twentieth century, and are sustaining its upward spiral ever since. The essay will study how the advent of ‘modern corporation’, supported by advertisement and public relations campaigns and, augmented by efficient supply chains, logistics, and trade networks employs ‘push mechanism’ to flood the market with commodities, thus, aiding and abetting the consumerist culture of ‘demand and dissatisfaction’. The root cause of the rise of consumerism, therefore, is found to be the proliferation of means of production and their enhanced capacities. This discussion helps us to state our thesis statement: “The rise of consumerism is linked to the rapid increase in production of commodities.” Key sections The key sections of the essay will be: i) Definition and historical background of consumerism ii) Impact of scientific-industrial revolution on consumerism iii) Proliferation of trade and commerce iv) The rise of the modern corporation v) The psycho-social dimensions of consumerism vi) Creation of Demand and Dissatisfaction vii) Ethical Consumerism viii) Discussion and Analysis Points to be included The first section will enumerate terms associated with the subject and deal with the historical context of consumerism. A brief overview of the economic and sociological theories related to consumerism will also be carried out. It will also dichotomize needs and wants and how the earlier societies relied more on the former. The second section will study the beginning of scientific and industrial epoch and dwell upon the early tendencies in consumerism. The third section will be devoted to the study of causes of proliferation of trade and commerce. Arguments will also be developed as to how growth in trade and commerce helped in the evolution of early ‘consumerist societies’. The various factors that contributed to the rise and development of multi-national and large enterprises equipped with means of mass production, and assembly line manufacture, along with theories of Taylorism and Fordism will be dealt with, in this section. A critical commentary will be made on trends in consumerism, over consumption of fast moving consumer goods, over-reliance on consumer durables, electronic gadgets and information technology. The next section will explore the psychological and social causes of indulgence and emulative spending. The sixth section will highlight the role of advertisement, public relations, ‘push mechanism’, development of brands and brand power. The seventh section will discuss the latest trends of ethical consumption, moral purchasing and green consumerism. Finally, discussion and analysis will be carried out on the issues related to consumerism and perspectives on future trends will be presented. Summary The essay will be summarized with a discussion on the modern day phenomenon of consumerism and how it is inextricably linked to scientific progress and industrial production. The summary will also include suggestions on how to strike a balance between ‘needs and wants’ and indulge in ‘conscious consumption.’ Annotated Bibliography Books Miles, S., (1998). Consumerism: as a way of life. 2nd ed. London. Sage Publishers. Miles charts out the course of consumerism from the nineteenth century to the present, through profuse references to the views of economists, sociologist sand political scientists like Karl Marx, Max Weber, Thorstein Veblen, Pierre Bourdieu, David Lyon, Mike Featherstone, Jean Baudrillard, Peter Lunt, Sonia Livingstone, Yiannis Gabriel, and Tim Lang. In this definitive and an erudite work, Miles (1998) states that the economic conditions, emergent geo-political situations, and socio-cultural mores have shaped the consumer preferences in the modern era. The author discusses patterns in consumerism shaped through emergent socio-economic conditions. Finally, the author analyses different kinds of consumerisms like space and place consumerism, technology and fashion consumerism, music and sports consumerism. Miles’ is an incisive work that can be of interest to the lay reader as well as research scholar. Our essay can be further strengthened with primary as well as secondary references from the book. Hilton. M. 2003. Consumerism in 20th century Britain: The search for a historical movement.: New York. Cambridge University Press. The book is a historical narrative of the politics of consumerism. According to Hilton (2003), the consumer politics is becoming politics of particular interests, which is divorced from the issue of consumption as such. The book is divided into five chapters in a study that begins in the nineteenth century, and ends in the modern era through the periods of the two World Wars. The author propounds the concept of enlightened ‘consumer-citizen’ as differentiated from the ‘consuming consumer’. In the true ‘citizen-like’ sense the consumer citizen is concerned with the “what, how, why, etc” of consumption. Finally, the author also emphasizes the need to mobilize the consumer citizen across non-consumer organizations. The book can be cited in the essay to lend more profundity to our discourse on consumerism. Websites The Global Development Research Center. n.d. Green Consumerism [Online] Available at http://www.gdrc.org/sustbiz/green/a-consumerism.html [Accessed 25 September, 2009] Gdrc.org is the website of Global Development Research Center, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental issues and contains three modules related to green consumerism:- i)Green Consumerism: A Quick Introduction, ii)The Power of Green Consumers iii) Some examples of Green Consumerism. A Quick Introduction to Green Consumerism is based on the talk given by Julia Hailes, the co-author of ‘Green Consumer Guide’ in Japan. The three modules are replete with information, facts and statistics about green consumerism. It also provides information on how the negative effects of green consumerism can be undone. Some facts can be used in our essay to make it more substantive. On the whole, the three modules lack authority as they are not based on academic research. Cronk, R. 1996. Consumerism and the New Capitalism [Online] Available at http://www.westland.net/venice/art/cronk/consumer.htm [Accessed 25 September 2009] This is a forceful essay that repudiates the western consumerist culture. According to Cronk (1996), the modern day consumer is strangled in a web of myths spun by the mass media to aid the global onslaught of capitalism. In the media-produced hyper-reality, our choices in the form of brands are already made for us. Cronk (1996) laments the loss of cultural values to economic growth and self-knowledge to consumerism. The realization of metaphysical truth has become a distant cry in the cacophony of advertisements. Though the essay doesn’t delve into the historical causes of the consumerism, nevertheless, it is a terse commentary on the present day state of affairs. The essay can be used to cite arguments to strengthen our case against consumerism. But since the essay appears on a private website, it cannot be considered an authentic and reliable source for citation in the research work. Journal articles Kaza, S. 2000. Overcoming the grip of consumerism. Buddhist-Christian Studies Buddhist-Christian Studies, 2000. 51(7) pp 23 + ‘Overcoming the Grip of Consumerism’ is an expansive work on how the human mind, a victim of its own desires, has fallen victim to consumerism. According to Kaza (2000), the consumer class is responsible for the degradation of the environment. To validate the point, Kaza (2000) liberally cites figures, statistics, and facts. The author also mentions the north-south divide on the consumption patterns and holds the northern world, responsible for the extravagant use of resources. According to the author, the investment economics is also playing havoc with the environment of southern less- developed countries. At the individual’s level, the author terms the mindless indulgence in consumerism as ‘psychic numbing’. The media, the advertisers, government and TNCs have produced a cultural ideology of high consumption. Consumerism, according to the author, is on a collision course with the limits of the planet. He suggests recourse to Buddhist ethics to liberation from the vice like grip of consumerism. Our essay can liberally use the facts and statistics from the journal article to develop the argument against consumerism. Swagler, R.1994. Evolution and applications of the term consumerism: theme and variations. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 28 (2) pp. 347+. Swalger (1994) delves deep into the etymological history of the word ‘consumerism’ and studies the changing meaning of consumerism over different eras. The author provides five different connotations of consumerism. According to him, the self-indulgence connotation of consumerism has persisted over time though the term was also used to symbolize various reforms in the consumer movement. The article can be useful in the introductory part of the essay, wherein various definitions of terms related to consumerism will be developed. Read More