The politics of consumerism : understanding the role of consumption in the political economy

Were the social activity that most defines late capitalism to be named consumption would be nominated as the predominant leisure pastime of the current period. Since the well-being of a society is measured along material co-ordinates, high rates of consumption are taken as signs of an overall prosperity wherein individuals are not only economically empowered but also endowed with the putative right to express their multifarious subjectivities. Yet the reality of consumption despite consolidated efforts to assert the contrary effects a far more degraded picture than the phantasmagorical one that is widely propagated. Often treated as a neutral sphere isolated from a productionist context, consumption is a spectacle which is reflective of but hides a subterranean structure of capital accumulation. This dissertation will consequently address the manner in which capitalism has shaped the arena of consumption exemplified through the changes undergone by the commodity and argue that consumption is best understood within a framework of the political economy.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Narshi, Jyoti

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Noyes, John K

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14630

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14630