The Myth of Consumerism

Consumerism and consumer culture have become central to critical discussions of identity, postmodernity and culture as never before. And yet critiques of consumerism are largely confined to those who argue either for or against notions of elitism or manipulation. In the main, theorists such as Bauman, Giddens and Hall do not offer alternatives to consumerism, but argue that it is an all-enveloping and inescapable imperative, and a dominant motivation in contemporary life. This work challenges the assumptions behind these discussions of consumerism.