"Beyond An Economy of Work and Spend"

Paper Summary:

In "Work and Spend", Juliet Schor builds quite a persuasive case that consumerism breeds discontent as it constantly pushes the envelope in terms of the desirability of material possessions. According to Schor, this creates an endless cycle of 'work and spend' that necessitates longer working hours, the sacrifice of leisure, and a situation where happiness has failed to keep up with economic growth. The paper argues that, while the conclusions that Schor reaches on the pitfalls of a consumerist culture are evident, given empirical evidence, there is ground to believe that consumerism alone is not the sole cause of discontent or longer working hours. It shows that closer examination of some of the causal connections Schor makes in building her case reveal the decisive influence of several other factors.

From the Paper:

"Leading from the above, it is evident that for advertising to succeed in its task, it has to reflect or address already existing needs and desires. This is exactly the reason why Schudson claims that the only role played by consumerism and advertising is to offer an ideology of choice to a consumer already in pursuit of accomplishing some existing need or desire. In fact, Schudson argues that advertising can never really enforce the kind of social control exercised by institutions such as the Church or schools: "can offer no social punishment, no social reward, no social reference group." (Schudson, 1991) Judging from such counter arguments, there is, then, ground, to doubt the linear equation that Schor draws between business production of goods and services, advertising and consumer needs."

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