ABSTRACT
The Cambridge English Dictionary states that consumerism is a state of affairs typical of “an advanced industrial society in which a lot of goods are bought and sold”. A second definition it provides observes that it is “the situation in which too much attention is given to buying and owning things”. The use of “too much” in the second definition serves as a point of departure for this entry. Consumerism is defined here as the buying of commodities at a scale that is socially and ecologically undesirable, untenable, and driven by a value system that bases personal and social evaluation on it (see Consumerism and Conspicuous/Positional Consumption). The term “political economy” indicates that our focus is on the historical and contemporary political, social, and economic factors that brought about and maintain this undesirable scale. This shifts research and policy attention away from individual choice behavior change alone to understand consumerism and extends it to consider structural explanations. For example, is choosing to drive a personal car an entirely individual choice? Or is it also a value, norm, and practice produced by social, political, and economic processes that have failed to create dignified and efficient public transport systems? The political economy of consumerism concerns itself more with the latter form of inquiry (see also Consumer Scapegoatism).
