Page 89 - Encyclopedia Of World History

consumerism 439

the modern poor are not pitied... but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy
has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing. • John Berger (b. 1926)

advertising agency arose in the United States, in the lapse of the system. Urban African participation in con-
1870s; the phenomenon spread to Europe during the sumerism began at least by the 1920s; Chinua Achebe’s
early twentieth century. Not only growing prosperity but novel No Longer at Ease, set in 1920s Nigeria, deals with
also growing discontent with work promoted new levels the inroads of consumer culture on traditional family val-
of consumerist interest. Many factory workers, bored or ues. Latin American participation increased: by the later
nervous on the job, turned to consumer pleasures to com- twentieth century a trip to Disney World in Florida, com-
pensate.The same pattern could affect middle-class peo- plete with shopping spree, was a standard expression of
ple, increasingly employed in large, faceless bureaucracies family success and doing right by one’s children.The idea
and unable to claim traditional satisfactions in personal of Christmas shopping spread to Muslim Istanbul, while
entrepreneurship. the purchase of gifts and cards was increasingly added to
The new wave of consumerism, from the late nine- the religious celebration of Ramadan.
teenth century onward, fueled by these developments, Access to consumerism remained uneven, of course.
involved the increasing commercialization of holidays like Many rural areas in Asia and Africa were barely touched,
Christmas. It involved the growing participation of chil- and this fact added to the increasingly important rural–
dren, surrounded from infancy with store-bought items urban divide in countries like China. Outright resistance
like teddy bears (named for the American president). continued as well.The rise of religious fundamentalisms
Experts began to urge parents to use toys and other con- from the 1970s onward represented in part a protest
sumer items to encourage good behavior. Consumerism against consumerist values, including their frequent asso-
also spread widely to the field of leisure, as most mass ciation with sensuality and sexual license. Many post-
leisure came to involve purchased pleasures and specta- communist Russians resented consumerist displays by
torship, from sports to movies. the “new Russian” middle class, partly, of course, from
Western leadership in twentieth-century consumerism envy but partly from an older belief that community shar-
increasingly involved American initiatives, as the United ing should take precedence over individual expression.
States became the world’s leading consumer society. By The process of assimilating consumerism has continued
the 1990s, however, Japan claimed a share in pioneering into the early twenty-first century.
consumer fashions, as the sale of “cool” products became
Peter N. Stearns
the nation’s large single export category.
By the later twentieth century, also, consumerism in-
Further Reading
creasingly intertwined with a global youth culture. Many
Abelson, E. (1989). When ladies go a-thieving: Middle-class shoplifters in
young people found participation in consumer fads a
the Victorian department store. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
means of expressing themselves against parental and Berg, M., & Clifford, H. (Eds.). (1999). Consumers and luxury: Consumer
other adult control. Again, consumerism had meanings, culture in Europe 1650–1850. Manchester, UK: Manchester Univer-
sity Press.
in terms of power relationships and personal expression, Brewer, J., & Roy P. (1993). Consumption and the world of goods. New
that went beneath the surface. The idea of participating York: Routledge.
Campbell, C. (1987). The romantic ethic and the spirit of modern con-
in cosmopolitan styles, and being seen in the process,
sumerism. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
provided significant incentives for many young people. Marchand, R. (1985). Advertising the American dream. Berkeley: Uni-
The geographical spread of consumerism continued, of versity of California Press.
Slater, D. (1997). Consumer culture and modernity. Oxford, UK: Basil
course. Soviet Russian society attempted to “co-op” con- Blackwell.
sumerism, with state-run department stores like GUM; Stearns, P. N. (2001). Consumerism in world history:The global transfor-
mation of desire. London: Routledge.
but the merger never entirely worked, and consumerist
Tobin, J. (1992). Re-made in Japan: Everyday life and consumer taste in
dissatisfaction with communism played a role in the col- a changing society. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.