Outline_the_Ways_in_Which_Rubbish_Can_Be_Said_to_Have_Value_in_a_Consumer_Society

PLAN: Outline the ways in which rubbish can be said to have value in a consumer society Introduction: Paragraph one – Consumer Society,Mass consumption and Recycling: Explain a definition for consumer society and explain how Mass consumption has evolved. With the increase explain how it has led to a massive increase in the household and business waste Paragraph two – Thompson’s Theory, Economic value and Aesthetic Value: Explain Thompson’s theory and illustrate it by using the stevengraphs and explaining how once they were modestly priced and as lots were produced they went out of fashion and therefore the price fell, however when few were left thay came back into fashion and the price went higher, explain the three different stages of Thompson’s theory. Give a explanation for economic value and the influence of supply and demand on prices. Use the housing slump in 2008 for this. Explain aesthetic and give an example using the photo of my bed by Tracey Enin. Paragraph three – Intrinsic Value: Explain what intrinsic value is and how something that seems like junk to someone may be priceless in someone else’s views because of sentimental value to them. Conclusion: To conclude explain that when looked at deeper rubbish does have value in a consumer society but the levels at which we produce it is unsustainable. References!! Outline the ways in which rubbish can be said to have value in a consumer society When one discusses rubbish we often come to the conclusion that it has no value, and therefore disvalued. This essay will explain how in fact rubbish does have value to lots of different people and business. There must have been certain factors for it to be considered ‘rubbish’ by the consumer. These can include it being seen as broken, old, not needed or simply not wanted anymore. Though there may be some truth behind certain items as being considered rubbish, such as broken and so on, that item can still have value to another. When talking about value it is important to note that it is a complex term with a variety of meanings, for example how useful something is or if its regarded as worthwhile, or to the point that value has been assigned to items by people that value them. In this essay we will be discussing a number of values rubbish can have, which can include aesthetic, intrinsic and economic value. The UK is widely regarded as a consumer society this is where society people are defined by what they buy and use and can afford as opposed to how they are employed, mass consumption can partly be attributed to this as well as rising wages and social aspects. Mass consumption was first brought to Europe in the 1860’s through department stores; it was the ability of these department stores to bring luxury goods to people at affordable prices through mass production and cheap labour. In modern times, with supermarkets carrying a greater range of products than ever before, you could say that they have become the 21st century department store offering mass produced products at low prices often made in other parts of the world where labour is much cheaper. From 1971 to 2006 the household disposable income increased by nearly 150% (Making social lives, page 111, figure1). With such an increase there was also a dramatic increase in consumption, which has led to even-greater amounts of waste and rubbish from households and also to a far greater extent from the shops themselves. It is important to remember that what is waste and rubbish to one person may not be the same to another. One example of this is the recycling businesses that have played an ever-increasing part in what we do with our so-called waste. The process of recycling can in turn give new value to what was once deemed rubbish. This will involve collecting the recycled rubbish first off and transporting to another part of the world and then back in the form of a new product which will then be sold at a price that will at least cover the cost of the whole process. Author, Michael Thompson, argues that there are three main categories that all objects fall into, these include; objects produced for ordinary use that are transient, a category where certain rubbish falls into with virtually zero value and a durable category in which items fall into that increase with value over time. In his book, Rubbish Theory: the Creation and Destruction of Value, he goes on to say how objects fall in and out of the category of rubbish and expresses how rubbish plays a key part in the way in which certain things are revalued as they move from being a item of mass consumption to an item of elite consumption. This in affect means that a transient item first falls to zero value before it can move into the durable category. Thompson uses a key example of how this works when he talks about Stevengraphs, silk works that included portraits of British royalty and other notables that were woven by Thomas Stevens (1828-88). These items were modest in price. Thompson discussed the trend of prices of Stevengraphs from when they were first produced to the 1970s. He discussed how one individual work at one point sold for a shilling in 1879 but had become virtually impossible to sell by the mid twentieth century. However during the 1970s the items were suddenly selling for a considerable amount of money and picked up value in which they were considered to be collector’s items. Though this may not make it clear and does not tell us what happens for all rubbish it does highlight what happens and goes so what to prove Thompson’s theory in how certain ‘rubbish’ can pass through different categories, one minute being popular, the next not, and then in some cases gaining that value once again. His example goes on to suggest that there are different types of values that are to be considered when looking at the value of ‘rubbish’, these being economic and aesthetic values. Economic value is relevant to demand and supply, economic value will increase with demand increase. Demand increase can be put down a number of reasons, such as what is considered fashionable by consumers, rising disposable income. An example of a decrease in economic value can be seen with housing in 2008, there was a fall in demand for housing which led to a downturn in the average house price by 13.9% (Making social lives, page 129). Demand is also influenced by taste, as well as fashion, known as aesthetic value. An aesthetic value is what we consider to be attractive and beautiful, and this therefore increases the value of the item. A good example of this would be the art done by Tracey emin in ‘my bed’ (Making social lives, p131), the art was an unmade bed surrounded by empty bottles and fag butts, many would not look twice at such a photo, however some would value it as artwork. When there is an increase in aesthetic value, there tends to be an increase in economic value. In both economic and aesthetic values items are constantly being processed by social revaluation and devaluation. Another way in which rubbish can have value is Intrinsic value, When talking about the intrinsic value of an item we mean how the item is viewed for value for its own sake or sentimentally. In turn this then means that the item might not hold any economic or aesthetic value, but it does hold an intrinsic value to the person who owns the item. For example, a person might own a dirty, old, worthless teddy bear that at glance has no value when it comes to money or attractiveness, but this teddy might have an intrinsic value to the owner that they regard as highly valuable for such reasons as sentimental value or personal value. This shows that what might be seen as one persons rubbish might be one person’s treasure, and though we might analysis something as being worthless in both aesthetic and economic value, it can hold a completely different value in intrinsic value altogether. This highlights the point how value can hold many different meanings and that what may first seem a simple definition, is not the case. Conclusion Throughout this essay we have seen how rubbish can be valued. At first look rubbish may be seen as just that, rubbish, but when we take a closer look we can see how certain items pass in and out of having value. To say that an item has no value what so ever is a very brash statement to make, because, in theory, it could be argued that someone else might see something as highly valuable, as we saw when discussing intrinsic value or in economic value, where something passes through categories of rubbish, from going from moderately priced, to basically zero, then up to making a highly valuable sum. When looking at the overall picture, though our level of rubbish is unsustainable and has huge environmental consequences, rubbish and so called waste hold so many values in the consumer society, whether it be value for the money and economic aspects, the aesthetic value or the many others including intrinsic value. It is in fact the social factors of today that hold a major view on how value is considered in society so Value is socially constructed by consumers through what they consider cool, fashionable. References. Introducing the social sciences, Making social Lives,(2009)p 111, p129,Taylor S. Hinchcliffe S. Clarke J. Bromley S (eds), The Open University Milton Keynes. Reflection I have found this essay fairly hard to get into mainly because of the time I have had to spend on it with a big workload at the moment. I have found the chapters fairly interesting though and hope I have done enough with the essay.