Dd101_Tma_02_‘Consumer_Society_Gives_People_Choice.’_Discuss_This_Claim.

PLAN 1250 Intro: essay content (100 words) Para 1: consumer society, Hetherington p19, Staples p10 (200 words) Para 2 : Zygmunt’s ‘seduced/repressed’, Hetherington p25, Hetherington p27, Hetherington p29 (200 words) Para 3: Veblen’s ‘conspicuous consumption’, Hetherington p31 & Susman’s ‘performing-self’, Hetherington p42 (200 words) Para 4: Helena Rimmer/Richard Dodd Audio (200 words) Para 5: supermarket power/domination & positive/-zero sum - Linwood/Partick, Allen p63, p64 (200 words) Para 6: Sustainability (50 words) Con: summary (100 words) DD101 TMA 02, March 2011 ‘Consumer society gives people choice.’ Discuss this claim. In this essay I will try to describe what a consumer society is and explain why people today shop for more than just life’s essentials. Three social scientists -Zygmunt Bauman, Thorstein Veblen and Warren Susman - all have differing opinions when it comes to consumer choice and why we shop, so I’ll be putting forward all four concepts: ‘seduced’ and ‘repressed’, ‘conspicuous consumption’ and ‘performing-self’. I’ll also discuss supermarket power and domination and question whether they’re a force for the good or for bad. Lastly, I’ll raise the issue of sustainability and question whether a consumer society can even last. A consumer society is a society in which people define themselves and others by what they consume as well as by what their jobs are (Hetherington, 2009, p. 19). Thirty years ago when society was an industrialised society, people were defined by their jobs alone. Today people are keen to be seen as more than a ‘mechanic’ or a ‘teacher , and they achieve this by displaying their personal taste and individuality through the consumption of material things; this is done by the clothes they buy and wear, the music they listen to or the material objects they surround themselves with. A consumer society is not just about the consumption of goods, it’s also about the consumption of services and experiences, all of which serve to convey something about the consumer to other consumers (Staples et al., 2009, p. 10). Consumption is often seen as a lifestyle activity but it’s also a form of socialisation. People want to feel they belong in society so they conform to their families’, friends’ and society’s values as a way to fit in, although this is done automatically and without much thought. However, this consumer freedom and consumer nonchalance is not available to everyone. Zygmunt Bauman claims that as industrialised society had its inequalities, so too does a consumer society (Hetherington, 2009, p. 25). In industrialised times the inequalities were about political freedoms and who could or couldn’t vote. Today, Bauman argues consumer society is an unequal society because it doesn’t offer choice to everyone. He divides consumers into two groups: the ‘seduced’ and the ‘repressed’. For the seduced, consumer society promises choice and freedom. The seduced are people who can consume effectively and are likely to be wealthy, employed or have a disposable income; the seduced are therefore seen as ‘valued members of a consumer society’ (Hetherington, 2009, p. 27). For the repressed, consumer society promises social exclusion and a devalued identity. The repressed are people who can’t consume effectively and are likely to be unemployed, in low-paid work or disabled; the repressed then are seen as ‘failed members of society’ (Hetherington, 2009, p. 29). Bauman’s seduced and repressed concepts are generalized explanations but they clearly show a link between income and status in society. To fit into a consumer society you need to be able to express personal individuality, and to a degree also be able to demonstrate your status in society. Thorstein Veblen’s study more than 100 years ago of the newly rich industrialists reveals that consuming certain things to demonstrate status in society was not an entirely new idea (Hetherington, 2009, p. 31). The very rich wanted to make good impressions and so bought luxury homes, lush furnishings and expensive jewellery to highlight their success. Veblen described this as ‘conspicuous consumption’. This type of consumption is usually associated with today’s rich celebrities, and because the culture of consumption is so often glorified in the media and in the tabloids and fashion magazines, the less wealthy aspires for the same choices. Warren Susman believes that the focus shifted from that of displaying social status to that of displaying individuality from the 1880s onwards (Hetherington, 2009, pg. 42). He argues it was less to do with class and social position and more to do with ‘performing-self’, a concept that explains the need to display personality through the consumption of goods. The birth of the department store offered immense choice, particularly to the ‘seduced’ members of society; surely then, the revolutionary birth of the contemporary supermarket offering a wide range of affordable foods, goods and services widened choices for everyone in consumer society' According to Helena Rimmer (‘Evidence in the social sciences’, 2009, track 1), choices are restricted more because the opening of supermarkets leads to a decline in smaller, independent shops. She argues although supermarkets claim to have a large and diverse range of affordable foods and goods, a study by Friends of the Earth found that during the British apple season there were hardly any British apples available in the supermarkets, but you could find locally grown British apples in smaller, independent stores. Rimmer also goes on to claim that supermarkets have far too much power and are dominating local areas. Richard Dodd (‘Evidence in the social sciences’, 2009, track 1) counterclaims it’s consumers who have power because if they didn’t like what the supermarkets offered they wouldn’t shop there and supermarkets would close. He also argues although some smaller shops are closing, the closures are balanced out by new shops opening up offering unique and different things from that of the supermarkets. Farm shops, health food shops and convenience stores are all increasing. No one supermarket company dominates areas as an inquiry by the Competition Commission found consumers had access to three different supermarkets within 15 miles of their homes. There’s no disputing supermarkets have power and the potential to dominate, but there’s concern with how supermarkets utilize that power (Allen, 2009, pg. 63). Linwood is a poor area with a run-down shopping centre, so the proposal for a Tesco development there is welcomed as it’ll regenerate the area and provide many jobs for the locals. However, in Partick, a more affluent area, the supermarket proposal there is seen as unnecessary by some locals as the town is not in need of regeneration, especially supermarket-driven (Allen, 2009, pg. 63). Supermarket companies insist their developments are always for the good as it regenerates areas, creating a ‘positive-sum’ result in which the town gains alongside the supermarket. Anti-supermarket lobbyists STOP (stop Tesco overtaking Partick) believe towns that don’t need regeneration but are forced with a supermarket development anyway, actually closes small businesses down thereby creating a ‘zero-sum’ result, meaning the supermarket gains from the town’s losses. A further issue is that supermarkets are more frequently being seen by councils and charities as a force for good and regularly ‘join forces’, making supermarkets yet more powerful, especially in possibly being able to influence development in any town they wish (Allen, 2009, pg. 64). Supermarkets and more supermarkets go hand-in-hand in contemporary consumer society, but what of this consumption obsession' It raises serious questions as to the sustainability of it, especially as consumption involves material things with material packaging, both of which eventually end up in over-flowing landfills or being burned and polluting skies… In this essay I have described how consumer society is all about shopping for material things that conveys something about who you think you are. I have put forward Zygmunt Bauman’s, Thorstein Veblen’s and Warren Susman’s theories and concepts on consumer choice and why we shop at all. I have discussed pro/anti-supermarket arguments on choice, discussed supermarket power and domination and have asked whether supermarkets have too much of it. I also discussed the issue of whether supermarkets use their power for the good or for the bad. Finally, I raised the question of the sustainability of a consumer society. 1250 Allen, J. (2009) ‘One-stop shopping: the power of supermarkets’ in: Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University. ‘Evidence in the social sciences’ (2009) Making Social Lives [Audio CD 1], Milton Keynes, The Open University. Hetherington, K. (2009) ‘Consumer society' Shopping, consumption and social science’ in: Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley. S. (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Staples, M., Meegan, J., Jeffries, E. and Bromley, S. (2009) Learning Companion 2, Introducing the social sciences, Milton Keynes, The Open University.