A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

Self-Preoccupation and Consumerism
In addressing „the ideology of consumerism‟, Conrad Lodziak criticises views which regard
the self as inextricably bound up with choices made in the social sphere of consumption. It is
maintained by advocates of consumer culture, Lodziak contends, that growing preoccupation
with self-identity arises from changes accompanying late-modern shifts in patterns of social
organisation (Lodziak, 2002:51).
According to Lodziak, consumerist mythology has it that individuals can no longer rely upon
the relatively secure and stable foundations upon which identities were formed in earlier
generations, or upon the security of knowing who they are in terms of being rooted in a
secure job, a stable community spanning several generations and a relatively stable family.
Whereas identities in the past were largely ascribed and worn on the basis of an individual‟s
place in terms of fairly inflexible power structures, recent social changes have created the
need for new self identities and for new means for identity construction. New opportunities
arise which enable individuals to choose their own identities in social contexts no longer
constrained by tradition. It is down to the individual to decide who she is.
Lodziak comments with irony that:
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oddly enough, for the ideology of consumerism, these new opportunities tend to be
confined to those offered by consumer culture! In other words, consumer culture
provides the resources that enable us to choose and express our self-identities
(Lodziak, 2002:51).
Lodziak argues that the type of freedom (freedom from old constraints, freedom to choose
who we are, freedom to buy our identity) propounded by the ideology of consumerism serves
to conceal the social inequalities and areas of life in which freedoms are being increasingly
limited and restricted in contemporary society. While options for identity- and lifestyle-
choice are far more restricted for people excluded from financial resources, these people are
not excluded from the barrage of images and texts which hold out tantalising possibilities.
When self-emphasis is required, identification in group terms – particularly in terms of
identification with a devalued social group – will seem unattractive. To achieve distinction
for getting it right - in terms of what to wear, what to listen to, which technological gadgetry
to carry around - is seen as what matters. The possibility of regarding disability as a positive
source of identity becomes unlikely. While engagement in struggles over image and style is
regarded as being what is really important in life, participation in political struggle over