Week 7: Consumption

Question 1

What four processes became particularly conspicuous in the 20th century?

Answer 1

The rise of consumer society, growing individualisation, secularisation and globalisation.

Question 2

Have consumers or industry fueled consumer capitalism?

Answer 2

The needs of capitalism, new techniques of mass production required new patterns of consumption.

Question 3

What is Disneyization?

Answer 3

that society is becoming increasingly themed via the homogenisation of consumption and merchandising.

Question 4

What are the 4 factors of disneyization?

Answer 4

• theming– clothing institutions or objects in a narrative that is largely unrelated to theinstitution or object to which it is applied, such as a casino or restaurant with a WildWest narrative;
• hybrid consumption– a general trend whereby the forms of consumption associatedwith different institutional spheres become interlocked with each other and increasinglydifficult to distinguish;
• merchandising– the promotion and sale of goods in the form of or bearing copyrightimages and/or logos, including such products made under licence; •performative labour– the growing tendency for frontline service work to be viewed as aperformance, especially one in which the deliberate display of a certain mood is seen aspart of the labour involved in service work

Question 5

Some things which are now ‘commodified’ or ‘outsourced’?

Answer 5

childcare
cleaning
health care
weightloss
repairing
clothing
cooking
growing food

Question 6

How has our identity changed with consumerism?

Answer 6

in the past we were identified by our location, profession, class or religion.
Now what we buy, how we dress, cars etc shape our identity

Question 7

What percentage of what we make is trash within 6 months?

Answer 7

99%

Question 8

What are the two types of ways to make products obsolete?

Answer 8

Planned obsolescence - things break, one time use etc, laptops, phones, plastic bags
Perceived obsolescence - ‘updates’, trends, etc.