Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole | 
 enlarge | Author: Benjamin R. Barber
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $9.50
You Save: $7.45 (44%)
New (29) Used (5) from $9.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 35008
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0393330893
Dewey Decimal Number: 339.470973
EAN: 9780393330892
ASIN: 0393330893
Publication Date: March 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: MINT Condition HARDCOVER ** N*O*T*I*C*E** NOT A PAPERBACK ** Interior & Cover & Dust Cover are IMMACULATE ** NEVER READ ** Pub:Norton- 2007 Stated 1st Ed. ** All Orders Fully Guaranteed
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
"Powerful and disturbing. No one who cares about the future of our public life can afford to ignore this book."—Jackson Lears
A powerful sequel to Benjamin R. Barber's best-selling Jihad vs. McWorld, Consumed offers a vivid portrait of an overproducing global economy that targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers and where the primary goal is no longer to manufacture goods but needs. To explain how and why this has come about, Barber brings together extensive empirical research with an original theoretical framework for understanding our contemporary predicament. He asserts that in place of the Protestant ethic once associated with capitalism—encouraging self-restraint, preparing for the future, protecting and self-sacrificing for children and community, and other characteristics of adulthood—we are constantly being seduced into an "infantilist" ethic of consumption.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
Overstated April 17, 2008
meh. I got the point after the first tedious, depressing chapter. I skimmed the rest of the book and it's the pretty much the first chapter restated with more examples to support his argument, enough to make you want to head for the liquor cabinet. jeezis. It's a bleak one sided perspective on a much more complicated issue. I thought the thickness of the book was an indication of it being more well-rounded but like I said, it's jut one depressing fact after another. big deal. I wish the book would have spent more time looking for solutions to the problem or examining it from different angles, looking at other possible culprits for this "infantilization" the author speaks of. (I'm still not completely sure what that term even means by the way). I mean putting all the blame on manipulative ad campaigns and corporate America seems pretty whiney. Take some personal responsibility. Anyway it's worth checking out from the library and reading through a few pages I guess.
 Very Academic View of Marketing's Influence on Society March 27, 2008
Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole
Quite obviously significant effort was put towards advancing the arguments in this volume, many of which are quite compelling. Most readers likely will take away the numerous dualities Barber identifies that characterize advanced capitalistic societies as a result of market over-saturation and forced consumption on those least able to resist the "magic" of Madison Avenue: children, tweens, and teens. The unconsciousness with which people accepted Geoge W. Bush's edict to exhibit their patriotism after September 11, 2001 by SHOPPING is but one example used to illustrate how absurdly consumerism has become confused with activities unrelated to it in any meaningful way.
The book makes reference to many outstanding sociological thinkers (i.e. Max Weber, Karl Marx)and I personally was grateful for an advanced degree in Sociology to put the topic being addressed into the theoretical perspective frequently utilized. I also was grateful for an advanced degree in Labor Economics since many references were taken from that stream of academic thought as well.
Could readers without such academic background absorb the essence of Barber's thesis? To be sure. But I think the tendency might be to skim over some of the more theoretical aspects of the volume. Perhaps Barber himself might agree since he points out society's desire for "Simple over complex."
Nonetheless this book certainly raises thought-provoking issues. I recommend is with only the above reservation.
Insightful, but deeply flawed. March 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book does much more to define the "McWorld" that was the subject of most of Barber's "Jihad vs. McWorld". His criticism of our contemporary consumerist market economy is well founded and legitimate, but I found several of his conclusions inaccurate. For example, while he repeatedly declares that democracy and capitalism are incompatible, his conclusion is predicated upon his flawed personal conception of those two principles. Another example is his criticism of the market being unable to meet second order desires, but this is once again predicated upon a flawed conception of what he believes to be legitimate first and second order desires. In spite of those flaws, I found his core critique of contemporary capitalism spot on: Since the real physical needs of the developed world have been met, industries must manufacture faux needs in those markets since those in the developing world, whose real needs have not been met, do not have the capital to purchase anything.
Good Perspective on How Consumers are Manipulated March 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book. It isn't perfect, but does offer a perspective on how corporations have socially manipulated people into buying "stuff" they don't really need. After highlighting the heck out of it, I forwarded the book to friends who also enjoyed it. I'm the type of person who can afford a Lexus, but bought the Toyota because I can't rationalize the markup for an equal vehicle. Those who can understand where I am coming from will enjoy this book. Those who would rather purchase a product based on the "brand" may not enjoy it. Hope this helps a bit. =-)
Points out the ultimate incompatibility of capitalism with democracy February 16, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
A well-done book that not only decries the incessant marketing and dumbing down of American society, but also applies some of Lukacs's insights to modern America. Specifically, that the all-for-one and one-for-one competition at the heart of American capitalism leads to a distrust that carries over into other areas of life, such as politics. Thus, fierce economic competition for a shrinking supply of the good life makes it more difficult to find the trust necessary for political cooperation in a an effort to solve the nation's pressing social problems. In short, a book to read on many levels that ties together root causes for the current American decline.
|
|
|
