Karin M Ekström and Kay Glans (eds),Beyond the Consumption Bubble

Karin M Ekström and Kay Glans (eds), Beyond the Consumption Bubble. London and New York: Routledge, 2011. 262 pp. £85.00. ISBN: 139780415878494 (hbk); £28.00. ISBN: 9780415653657 (pbk)

The ongoing Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has, in no uncertain terms, lent salience to critiques of overconsumption. While governments remain wedded to the rhetoric of consumption-led economic growth, they must now also confront what critics have long pointed out: economies geared to a no-limits consumerism are in a range of ways simply unsustainable. This does not mean that we are on the brink of adopting a new economics. Globally, consumer capitalism is here to stay. However, as a number of chapters in this collection argue, the fundamentals of market liberalism have been resoundingly destabilised, and as a consequence, questioning the viability of endless growth and the desirability of limitless consumption is no longer marginal. Confronting consumption and its effects is now, indeed, part of mainstream debate.

This large and diverse collection of essays taps-in to this enlivened critique of overconsumption. Born of a London-based workshop held in early 2008 on consumer society, the book draws together the work of some of the leading European and North American scholars of consumption and is targeted at a broad readership, particularly in the marketing field. Its principal thrust is critical and exploratory, especially in relation to discussing why and how more sustainable forms of consumption must be pursued. Beyond this intent, though, the contributions are only loosely complementary. Rather than offer a detailed synthesising discussion, the editors opt to simply group the essays into those focused on the role of consumption in society, those dealing with changing consumer practices and those canvassing alternatives to hyperconsumerism. This rather light editorial touch, along with the inclusion of a relatively large number of (sometimes idiosyncratic) chapters, delivers mixed results.

This collection is certainly comprehensive, and interestingly so. Authors are drawn from a wide array of fields – economics, marketing, social theory, material culture studies, history and environmental studies – while the subjects covered are both varied and expertly handled. While critical of consumerism, most authors in this volume are careful not to condemn ‘the consumer’. Indeed, a number of chapters seek to explore the contradictory dynamics of consumption and of the local, global, social and emotional contexts in which it takes place. In the first two-thirds of the book, broad sweep diagnoses of hyperconsumption and the commodification of life (penned by Gilles Lipovetsky and Zygmunt Bauman) sit alongside explorations of the meanings of the material (Daniel Miller), the changing dimensions of public and private consumption (Jan Owen Jansson) and the familial and inter-generational context of consumer choice (Karin M. Ekström). Where Miller challenges the dualism of individualism and collectivism in relation to consumption, other writers similarly contest the dichotomies of global and local (Richard Wilk), consumption and citizenship (Frank Trentmann) and the market and politicisation (Franck Cochoy). There are essays here, too, on the visual aspects of contemporary consumer cultures (Jonathan E. Schroeder) and on ‘communities of purpose’ as a form of consumption community (John W. Schouten and Diane M. Martin). Collectively, these essays offer abundant lines of thought; from Lipovetsky’s observation that consumerism has shifted from equipping households to equipping individuals, to Trentmann’s uncovering of the long history of the consumer as a political actor, to Cochoy’s insistence that politics (a force imbued in all acts of consumption) cannot be abandoned to market actors in a global context where renewed market regulation is paramount.

The same liveliness characterises the final section of the book where a number of chapters deal directly with the GFC or with alternatives to mainstream consumer cultures. Maurie J. Cohen (observing the renewed salience of debates on limits to growth and the steady economic state) offers a useful review essay of post-GFC advocacy of ‘degrowth’ economics and strong (rather than modest reform) models of sustainable consumption. Other contributions focus on consumption and income inequality (Robert H. Frank), on the rise of the Chinese consumer (Patricia M. Thornton), on the necessity of reducing material and energy-intensive consumption (Neva Goodwin, John Holmberg and Jonas Nässén) and on ‘simple living’ alternatives to consumerism (Russell Belk).

As individual chapters most of these contributions stand-up exceptionally well (though one or two of them do appear to have been somewhat dashed off). However, there are three problems with this collection concerning audience, focus and currency. First, the register of discussion differs markedly, such that some chapters are written in textbook style, while others are far more discursive and theoretically challenging. This makes for an uneven textual identity. Second, Beyond the Consumption Bubble is very much a ‘dip-in’ collection. Contributors either report on their recent research or offer reflection and survey pieces rather than assiduously stick to a collective thematic focus. Corralling such a large group of scholars must have been no easy editorial task; yet slightly fewer, more lengthy and better integrated chapters may well have been more effective. Third, and perhaps most importantly, in drawing on papers from an early 2008 workshop, this collection is frustratingly dated. Once again, I sympathise with the editors; given the fast-moving economic times, it is impossible to be absolutely contemporary. However, most of the chapters do not even mention the GFC (or only fleetingly so). In fact, only a handful (Wilks, Trentmann and Cohen) appear to have been more recently re-drafted so as to engage directly with current economic events. Even given publishing time-lags, this datedness is a little odd. There is, then, much on offer in this book, although readers wanting a more concerted analysis of post-GFC consumption cultures will need to look elsewhere.