Consuming Life [2]

Sophia Parker has posted about Zygmunt Bauman Bauman caught my attention recently

As a recap - Sophia writes

His basic argument is that we have moved from a producer society to a consumer society (where we are defined by our shopping basket rather than by our work) - what he calls ‘liquid modernity’. As part of this transition, we not only become consumers, but also necessarily commodities ourselves: constantly marketing who we are in the quest to be seen, as ‘invisibility is tantamount to death’ (here he quotes Germaine Greer). He believes we are in the grip of a subjectivity fetishism.

But these are the interesting bits

I was really struck by a number of the consequences he outlines of this view of the world. First, a consumer society is not defined by what it buys, but instead by what it wastes

Second, he writes at length about the commodification of intimate life - Our relationships become as dispensable as the things we buy - and this pattern is reinforced by the way we find our friends now (online dating etc etc)

Third, he kicks back against the internet, and all those who herald it as the dawn of a new era of connectedness, instead seeing it as a force that drives us towards this commodification of the ‘Other’

The last one worries me as I see that connectedness - can be a powerful force for good. Take the view that Connectivity unleashes productivity Which looked at the economic success of GrameenPhone in Bangladesh

One study concluded that the total lifetime cost of an additional phone (including the cell tower and switching gear) was about $2,000, but that each phone enabled $50,000 of increased productivity. And surprisingly, the poorer the country to begin with, the greater the increase in wealth from connectivity.

Sophia picks up on how Liquid Modernity affect Time and Meaning.

Whereas before meaning was derived by progression through life, Bauman believes we are now operating in ‘pointillist’ time, where each of us have to create meaning out of the many choices we make everyday. Melancholy, in these terms, is being overwhelmed by the possibilities of all this choice, to the point of withdrawing from the act of choosing

And this has a significant implications on our sense of self and our identities

Bauman should force us to pause for thought. And I thank Sophia, for so clearly illuminating Bauman's thinking.

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