Transcending consumerism and consuming transcendence : a critical deconstruction of the assimilative evolution of consumerism

Abstract

Consumerism differentiates contemporary consumption patterns from any other in history, and has obvious causal links with the environmental problematique. Integrating a structural analysis of the evolution of consumer culture with a subjectivist interpretation of how individuals cope with consumerism, consumption is viewed as a symbolic phenomenon which increasingly mediates our interactions with the exterior environment, including other people.

Having outlined the historical origins of consumerism, the socio-cultural mechanisms which invest commodities with symbolic meaning are identified. These include literature, cinema, fashion and advertising. Analysis reveals that although all cultures use symbols to objectify culturally shared ideals, today's technological infrastructure has enabled an unprecedented degree of arbitrariness in the link between symbol and meaning.

In examining the subjective experience of consumerism, it is suggested that a latent desire to transcend arbitrary symbolism is continually assimilated by the systemic recycling of those same symbols. This includes environmentalism, retro-styling and irony. Yet meaning remains tethered to the same arbitrary commodified symbolism from which transcendence is sought. Simple pretextual symbolic meanings continue to provide a source of self identity, but these are augmented with the more sophisticated self identity of someone who reflects upon the meaning investment process with irony. The assimilation of transcendence as it manifests itself in environmental consumption distracts us from the biophysical limits to consumerism and the imperative for cultural change. The assimilation of retro-culture and reflection upon the symbolic process has the potential to degrade into infinitely regressive spirals of irony and cultural stagnation, preventing the development of fresh meanings from outside the consumerist paradigm.