ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an overview of topics associated with a neoliberal capitalist economy, consumer culture, and consumption. It starts with an overview of some basic definitions, after which it moves on to discuss the tenets of capitalism, emphasizing their close association with such national ideals of the US as freedom, individualism, and equality. It notes that these ideals are mutually exclusive and lead to the over-privileging of the individual over at the cost of society. It then focuses on how these ideas correlate to a neoliberal economy. An overview of the basic assumptions of a neoliberal economy along with their shortcomings follows. Attention then shifts to commoditization, emphasizing such topics as conspicuous consumption, nowism, authenticity, the stimulation of consumer desire, and the influence of commoditization on human relationships. A brief discussion of postmodernism follows, specifically focusing on the criticism raised by Fredric Jameson and Zygmunt Bauman, as well as Mike Featherstone’s defense of certain characteristics of this period; it also notes the development of post-postmodernism. Finally, the chapter looks at the political context of consumption, highlighting consumer culture’s impact on political and civic activity, and how it was used as a field of hegemonic struggle. This also includes the issue of class in the US and how it is framed in the media.
