Sigismund Baumann on consumer society

Source: China Social Science Network

Original title: Sigismund Baumann on Consumer Society

The transition from production to consumption is one of the salient features of post-industrial societies; individuals in post-industrial societies have achieved the transition from producers to consumers. This shift has led to many far-reaching changes. In this regard, Sigismund Baumann made a very profound analysis, which has vivid theoretical value.

First, from the rules of production to the expansion of consumption. In a consumer society, all the training and transformation that people had previously received in order to conform to their social identity was no longer necessary. In other words, the routine monotonous training methods in productive societies are no longer suitable for complex and changeable consumers. Consumers don't follow any conventions, and there's nothing to make them completely satisfied. Even consumers cannot tolerate the normal time spent on consumption itself, because it occupies the time that stimulates their new desire to consume. The ideal state of consumer society is to meet in a timely manner and generate new consumer demand immediately. The less consumers can control their desires by controlling their attention, the more they can stimulate and generate new consumer demand. "When desires can be satisfied without waiting, the consumer's spending power may far exceed the limitations set by innate or external needs and the physical durability of the object of desire."

Second, from work ethics to consumer aesthetics. Productive society works collectively in a division of labor, cooperation, and integration, while consumer society, on the contrary, consumes in independent, spaced individuals. Free choice is the intrinsic driving force of consumption, and the higher the degree of free choice, the higher the class of the consumer. Consumption is not the same as production, and consumption is the right of the implementer, not the obligation. "Consumption, more and more abundant and diverse, must appear in the rights that consumers can enjoy, not the obligations that must be borne. Consumers must be guided by aesthetic purpose, not ethical norms. In Bauman," the focus of consumer aesthetics is on the sensual experience of beauty, such as representations of interest, sensory stimulation, seduction, desire, pleasure, freshness, and so on. The value of work or the value of goods is no longer based on satisfying everyday needs in the traditional sense, but on whether it produces pleasurable experiences. Led by consumer aesthetics, work is oriented towards "fun", with richness, pluralism, risk-taking and initiative to oppose monotony, repetition, conservatism and dependence. People no longer pursue short working hours and long leisure time, but to smooth out the difference between work and recreation, and make work and entertainment the highest goal. "Elevate the work itself to the highest and most satisfying level of entertainment. Entertaining work is the most coveted privilege. ”

Third, from professional entrance to consumption flow. In the consumer society, most people no longer have direct access to "work" experience as a career, and they can only virtually experience the "work" of the profession by watching novels or television. The flexible and mobile consumer market no longer has the realistic conditions to provide professional work, nor does it allow individuals to be determined for the sake of inherent occupations, and the tradition of labor exhortation seems out of place in consumer society. Conversely, the fluid nature of consumer society determines to some extent the immediacy of individual work. Bowman once used the cult of stars and the fleeting phenomenon of glory as an example to illustrate the fickleness of consumer society: sometimes and wherever, an unknown person suddenly became famous and was fanatically sought after by fans; but at some point, he disappeared and faded from the public eye as if it had never existed; or somehow he appeared as another profession, and the profession was no longer fixed. Baumann is skeptical and critical of occupational mobility in consumer societies, arguing that "'flexibility' does not mean freedom of choice, autonomy and self-affirmation, but rather a lack of security, forced homelessness and an uncertain future". Conversely, the paradox of freedom and security is the greatest dilemma that consumer society brings to people: "We are in an uncertain world in which we become increasingly free, but the problem is that we no longer have a sense of security, and everything becomes uncertain and unpredictable." This is undoubtedly the price of freedom and the regret of postmodernity." Thus, the freedom of consumer society is deceptive.

Fourthly, from the eradication of poverty to the eradication of the new poor. The emergence of the new poor in consumer societies is a profound conclusion drawn by Baumann. Bowman first made a distinction between "normal life" and "happy life" for ordinary living standards, "normal life" means that consumers can "focus on making corresponding choices between the pleasure of public display and the opportunity of real experience", and "happy life" refers to being able to seize more opportunities that people envy and desire, seize opportunities, and take the lead. Correspondingly, ordinary people live a "normal life" and successful people live a "happy life". But both "normal life" and "happy life" are not related to the new poor in consumer societies, who are congenitally deficient, defective and ill-prepared consumers who are not capable of living. After a profound insight into the nature of consumer society and its pursuit of order, Baumann came to a very shocking answer: in consumer society, from the previous eradication of poverty to the eradication of the poor. On the one hand, in the consumer society, boredom is a specific representation or even synonym for the new poor, and the elimination of boredom is the source of impetus for the consumer society; on the other hand, the infinite pursuit of order in the consumer society makes "the concept of order and norms like a sharp knife, against the society, they first show the intention to isolate, cut, cut, eliminate and exclude." The new poor, who clearly violate social order or fail to meet normative standards, are ostracized, banished and deprived of their social roles, social responsibilities and moral standards. In this regard, Bauman combines the new poor with the "Holocaust" and criticizes the "evil" of modernity. Atrocities, under the cover of the order of modernity and the neat civilization, have acquired a legitimate cloak of responsibility and virtue, and their essence is cruel and absurd.

Fifth, from individual consumption to survival syndrome. Bowman made a profound analysis of consumers' obsessive shopping desires, and he believes that the sensory pleasures such as smell, touch, and vision brought by a variety of goods are only the superficial reasons for shopping addiction, and its essence is that the purchase behavior reflects the search for certainty. Shoppers who are trying to get permanent gratification all at once, trying to escape the pain of instability, "want to make an exception to become convinced, certain, confident and trusted." Shopping is seen as a ritual activity to drive away the specter of instability, but it backfires. Consumer society makes full use of the function of media advertising, incitement, and exaggeration of consumption, it sets the screen life better than real life, assuming that the desire for a better life can be realized through shopping and consumption. All advertising assumes both that consumption is the condition for achieving a good life and that the good life itself, i.e., what is shown on the screen is the good life. This dubious double hypothesis has contributed powerfully to the surge in shopping desires. In addition, consumption is also the act of seeking "identity", identity means certainty, identification and consistency, identity is not only a "image" different from others formed through the eyes of others, but also a self-definition and construction achieved by occupying a suitable position in society. "Identity — unique and unique — can only be obtained in what everyone buys, and it can only be controlled through shopping." Based on the results of the lack of continuity, certainty and boundaries of individuals in consumer society, Bauman has internally transformed identity and consumption essence. He further argues that when consumption becomes an act of resistance to social divisions and an individual's quest for identity and integrity, it can only lead to a newer, larger crisis. The fear and pursuit of the certainty and unity of modernity is both the contradictory state of consumer society and the embodiment of the paradox of modernity.

In short, Bauman has a perspective on the consumption essence and flow characteristics of post-industrial society through specific microscopic observations of individual life experiences in consumer society, and critically reflects on the dominant spirit of modernity, foresees the deep crisis of modernity, and concentrates on the creativity and insight of Bauman's consumer social critique.

(This paper is a phased result of the 2020 Sichuan Provincial Social Science Planning Project "Research on The Aesthetic Self-Discipline Of Eastern Europe Neo-Marxism" (SC20A018))

(Peng Chengguang, Author Affilications: School of Chinese Chinese Literature, Southwest University for Nationalities)

Editor-in-Charge: Wang Xuan