Anti-Consumerism

Historically, consumerism and its antithesis, anticonsumerism, have fallen under a variety of descriptions in different times, regions, and as part of various cultures. Defining anti-consumerism can be a somewhat thorny task because it can be difficult to establish just what consumerism is. In some contexts, consumerism, like that often referred to in the phrase “consumer society,” is a pejorative. However, in other contexts, “trickle-down economics” for instance, consumerism is considered a positive and integral part of modern, capitalist economies.

Consumerism generally refers to the creation, purchase, and use of goods and commodities over and above the material needs of those purchasing and utilizing the goods. This phenomenon is certainly not new, and many have argued it is as old as human civilization itself, but it has reached unprecedented levels in recent decades. In addition, consumerism is also closely associated not only with excess goods but with acquiring new and novel goods, as well as the status associated with such possessions. One result is a plethora of, strictly speaking, unnecessary consumer goods and a seemingly insatiable demand for a continual supply of new and novel products. The role of the commodity and its consumption is thus elevated beyond both its use value and exchange value. This feature, in particular, links modern consumerism closely with what Karl Marx called the fetishism of commodities and what Thorstein Veblen described as conspicuous consumption.

The primary criticisms of consumerism have most often come from three sources: religious groups, secular conservatives, and a somewhat loose collection of social and political activist perspectives that often coalesce around certain issues. Of course, criticisms have originated from other sources as well, but these three seem to capture those that dominate most anticonsumerism discourse. The first two have played important historical roles in the development of consumerism, but it is the last of the three that is most commonly referenced by the term anti-consumerism in contemporary discourse. However, it remains useful to look briefly at anti-consumerism based both on religious concerns and on conservative secular values, even if only to demonstrate the penetration of consumerism into various aspects of human social, political, and economic life.

Religious anti-consumerism generally turns on the view that human beings ought to focus their energies on spiritual matters rather than on the acquisition of worldly goods. Those holding this perspective have often argued that the focus on material goods produced by and within consumer culture detracts from the ability of individuals to focus on their spiritual existence. This view is not necessarily limited to any one religion, culture, or region. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, among others, all contain within their belief systems prohibitions against focusing on the corporeal world and the acquisition of material goods.

However, it is worth noting that even in areas where these faiths are dominant, consumerism often has taken root and exercised great influence. In some instances, forms of consumerism have become [Page 146]absorbed into religious practice itself in the form of elaborate churches, mosques, and temples or in the creation and accumulation of ornate religious artifacts. In a way similar to that of individual consumer goods and purchases, rhe acquisition of such religious goods or the construction of such structures has often been viewed as a means of establishing status or even proving the favor of deities.

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