...and consultancy – on topics from ‘our place in the universe’ through to ‘how to live the life you want’, and from ‘the problem with consumerism’ through to ‘how to be happy’. For more information visit www.lifesquared.org.uk Copyright Richard Docwra 2009 © Published by Life² Life Squared Limited Registration number: 6924570 Registered address: 22 Luther Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 9XA www.lifesquared.org.uk info@lifesquared.org.uk Copyright © 2009 Richard Docwra. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the publisher’s permission. Please contact Life² if you wish to syndicate this information. Contents Introduction 4 Advertising 5 Consumerism – beyond advertising 9 The effects of consumerism 14 What is wrong with consumerism? 17 What can we do about it? 27 References Inside back page Introduction Introduction C onsumerism is one of the strongest forces affecting our lives in the modern world. The term ‘consumerism’ does not simply refer to immediate factors in our daily lives such as the omnipresence of advertising, but anything connected to the overarching idea in our modern society that in order to be happier, better and more successful people we have to have more stuff. In this booklet, we will explore the power of consumerism, how it manifests itself in our lives and the effects it has on us. The problem with...
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...Howes D (ed), Cross Cultural Consumption: Global Markets, Local Realities, Routledge, London, pp.39-54 plus notes pp.195-208. Edward Said (November 1935 – September 2003) is a Palestinian born in Jerusalm. He is university professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University and an influential cultural author (Said 1982, p1086). His book Orientalism (1978) addresses his ideas on Orientalism in his own words, a Western style of Eastern cultures (Said 1982, p1086). His work generally ties to the imperialist societies and represents the issue of politics. In 1983, he published ‘from “Opponents, Audiences, Constituencies, and Community”’. Constance Classen (1957 –) is an award-winning writer and researcher based in Montreal, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from McGill University and is the author of various essays and books on the cultural life of the senses such as ‘Worlds of Sense: Exploring the Senses in History and Across Cultures (Routledge, 1993)’. In 1996, she published ‘Sugar Cane, Coca-Cola and Hypermarkets: Consumption and Surrealism in the Argentine Northwest’ (Canadianicon 2012). Those two readings provide examples of how the human beings make their own culture, and could therefore change it. This paper briefly shows noninterference and interference in the every world life and how those two may have occurred in the global consumerism context. In the essay ‘from “Opponents, Audiences, Constituencies, and Community”’, Said does not directly define...
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...other Palahniuk themes. It is very apparent that masculinity has changed as a natural progression of modernisation. This dissertation will analyse masculinity as it is depicted in Palahniuk’s writings and explore Palahniuk’s intentions and beliefs. I will interpret the responses of select critics in order to gain some understanding of what Palahniuk deems to be the ideal model of masculinity in the modern world, beneath his post-modern twists, transgressive characterization and vecernal style. This discussion will attempt to uncover what Palahniuk portrays as the cause of emasculation, if anything at all. To begin I will discuss the excess of recent decades and how it has effected men’s lifestyle, in reference to money, media, consumerism and access to information. Following on from this I will discuss Palahniuk’s exploration of sex and sexuality in order to gain...
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...In his adventurous experiences to Masafuera, Chile, foretelling speeches to college students, and emotional letters to best friend David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen’s essays in Farther Away delve into personal experiences that take a deeply haunting stance on a vast number of modern societal issues. He claims that hopeless isolation clouds individuals in their search for meaning, further perpetuated by the increasing dependency and materialistic pursuit of technology and consumeristic goods. However, in all this, Franzen remains optimistic as he reveals hopeful possibilities for authentic connections through the bonds he forms with birds. The interaction between hopeless isolation and the yearning for authentic connections produces a profound internal conflict within the individual. What is to resolve this battle? Ultimately, Franzen believes that this interminable isolation is cured through the intertwined processes of reading and writing. Isolation is a focal concept in Franzen’s work that he elucidates through his personal history. On a drive back to St. Louis from Minneapolis, Franzen recounts his past: he had just “spent an outstandingly fun week” with his cousins, but loathed his return to his home, back to isolation (“Our Little Planet” 273). His home was the “quiet, dark, air-conditioned house”, and his cousin’s home was “the convivial planet” (“Our Little Planet” 274). Coincidentally, the historical landing of the Apollo 11 occurs on the same day, leading Franzen...
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...CONSUMERISM Historical Overview of Consumerist Movement The first consumer movements took place in the 1900s and were fuelled by such factors as rising prices and unethical drugs scandals. The second was in the 1930s, was caused by similar cases as in the 1960, and has been growing stronger since then to date. This was because of complex set developments. Consumers have become better educated, products have become increasingly complex and hazardous and there is general discontent in Nigeria. Evolution of Consumerism in Nigeria In a free economy, businesses can deliver abundant goods and services to those who can afford them, but could make consumers vulnerable due to unscrupulous practices of certain organizations. Nigeria as a third-world country has had consumerism more in the form of government legislation and enforcement than organized consumer associations. Thirty-Seven years after the first consumer protection agency was established, cases of consumer rights abuse are still preponderant. The aim of this exploratory and conceptual study is to assess the performance of agencies in charge of consumer rights protection based on their statutory functions. The study finds that, for the most part, the agencies are below par in performance with very poor level of awareness among Nigerian consumers who are reluctant to enforce their rights. This reluctance is largely due to poor level of education among Nigerian consumers, unnecessarily rigid judicial system that protects...
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...or more of the parties, such that serving the interest of one party is a detriment to the other(s). For example, a particular outcome might be good for the employee, whereas, it would be bad for the company, society, or vice versa. Social responsibility of business ethics and consumer right are the influential aspects of the business and society relations. The social responsibility of businesses to the society’s interest and resource utilization is determinant to the business success. The Consumer right is the main components of the social responsibility of businesses in addition to other components needs special emphasis. The other general sector in business and society is the idea of consumerism and environmental movement, which is claim of collective right. Consumerism affects strategies of business in most powerful industries of the world. Environmental movements are highly attached to the consumer movements of the collective claim of right in the modern world business. LEARNING OBJECTIVES When you have been completed this unit you will be able to: * Understand the concept of ethics, business...
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...Likhitha Reddy Professor Ervin Honors Special Topics: Films of Terry Gilliam May 6, 2103 Escape from Reality The modern world is plagued by the departure from an idealistic and imaginative state of mind into a realm of superficial social anxieties. Director Terry Gilliam, an American-born British director and member of the comedy group Monty Python, displays the theme of the rejection of pragmatism in favor of imagination in many of his movies. The theme of escaping from mundane reality into an alternative, inspired universe is most prevalent in his films Time Bandits (1981), The Fisher King (1991), and Tideland (2005). In Time Bandits, escape is more physical than mental as inspired pre-teen Kevin leaves his mundane life and consumerism-oriented world for a taste of adventure. The Fisher King presents a much different type of escape- Parry is a man who witnesses the murder of his wife and falls into a catatonic state only to emerge as a man who abandons his old life, including memory of his late wife, in order to find the “Holy Grail,” a worthless trophy that he sees in a magazine. Tideland is depicts another mental escape scenario and tells the story of the young daughter of two drug addicts in perpetual denial of her abused state who is aided in her fantasy world by doll heads that she wears on her fingers. Whether physical or mental, escape can provide a temporary panacea, but the problem with it is that one must always return. Time Bandits, released in 1981, was Gilliam’s...
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...interactive in the media and public sphere in partnership with the Web 2.0 movement as a form of new media. Even though the new age media revolution has taken over the bigger part of our lives, the means of traditional media outlets such as television are more open to all the different societies that now exist. As the quality of media outbreaks dwindles and quantity is dangerously on the rise, the idea of commercialized and fragmented elements in our society is what we are subjected to within today’s media realm. Allan Mckee in his text The Public Sphere: An Introduction discusses these topics in depth as well as others in relation to the concept of audience and how the transformation of media has affected social behaviors. It is imperative to note that progressions in social transformation and the transgression of new age media run parallel of each other, as they feed off relevant decisions and developments. Jurgen Habermas, the writer of ‘The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere’, is the founding father of the public sphere ideology that has been debated and discussed throughout its...
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...Journal of Consumer Marketing Emerald Article: To buy or not to buy? A social dilemma perspective on green buying Shruti Gupta, Denise T. Ogden Article information: To cite this document: Shruti Gupta, Denise T. Ogden, (2009),"To buy or not to buy? A social dilemma perspective on green buying", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 26 Iss: 6 pp. 376 - 391 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07363760910988201 Downloaded on: 28-05-2012 References: This document contains references to 76 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 4703 times. Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by INDEPENDENT UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Additional help for authors is available for Emerald subscribers. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com With over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald...
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...Consumer Behaviour Contents 1. Nature, Scope and Importance of consumer behaviour. 2. Consumer Research. 3. Consumer Learning 4. Consumer Perception 5. Consumer Involvement 6. Attitude, Culture, Lifestyle and Socialism 7. Consumer Motivation 8. Consumer Decision Making 9. Consumerism 1. Nature Scope and Importance of Consumer behaviour. : Consumer behaviour is defined as “The dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour and the environment b which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of lives”. IT means that the buying habits of the consumer are greatly affected by their thought process and their feelings experienced. Human beings are greatly influenced in their buying actions by various factors like opinion of others, marketing stimuli like product, advertising, packaging and product appearance. Importance of Consumer behaviour: • Ever increasing intensifying competition. • More aggressive competitors emerging with greater frequency. • Changes basis of competition. • Geographic sources of competition are becoming wider. • Niche attacks are becoming frequent. • Pace of innovation is rapid. • Price competition becoming more aggressive • Product differentiation is declining. As a principal, the marketing concept involves understanding the needs of the consumers and translating these needs into products or services to satisfy these needs. The basic objective in marketing is to achieve the goal of profit making through...
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...Niebuhr (1929) argues sects are world rejecting organisations that are the result of schism, where there is a split from an established church because of disagreement over doctrine. Niebuhr argues sects are short lived and within a generation they die out, compromise with the world or abandon their extreme ideas and become a denomination. Niebuhr identifies several reasons for this; the second generation lack the fervour of their parents who consciously rejected the world and joined voluntarily. The “protestant ethic” effect meant that sects that practiced ascetism tended to become prosperous. Members will tend to want to compromise with the world with their new found wealth and thus abandon world rejecting beliefs. Sects with a charismatic leader either collapse on a leader’s death or a more formal bureaucratic leadership will take over; thus transforming the organisation into a denomination. Stark and Bainbridge (1985) see religious organisations moving through a cycle. The first stage is schism, where there’s tension between the needs of the deprived and privileged members of the church. Deprived members break away to form a world rejecting sect. The second phase is one of initial fervour with a charismatic leadership and tension between the sect’s beliefs and those of wider society. The third phase is denominationalism, where the fervour disappears because of the coolness of the second generation and protestant ethic effect. The fourth stage is establishment, where the sect...
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...1. Social justice and equity is more important than economic justice and equity. Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being Defining Social Justice Social justice encompasses economic justice. Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development. Defining Economic Justice Economic justice, which touches the individual person as well as the social order, encompasses the moral principles which guide us in designing our economic institutions. These institutions determine how each person earns a living, enters into contracts, exchanges goods and services with others and otherwise produces an independent material foundation for his or her economic sustenance. The ultimate purpose of economic justice is to free each person to engage creatively in the unlimited work beyond economics, that of the mind and the spirit. Social justice based on the values of fairness, equality and respect...
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...Since the 1990s, Zambia has experienced drastic political, social and economic changes, these changes have proliferated in the media industry more especially radio broadcasting. The need for community radio stations in Zambia has risen over the past few years this is because radio is still the dominant mass-medium in Zambia and Globally. It has the widest geographical reach and the highest audiences as compared to television, newspapers and other information and communication technologies. Radio seems to have proven itself as a developmental tool, particularly with the rise of community and local radios. Therefore, its from this background that this article…. A community radio station is a type of community mass media. The different types of mass media in Zambia can be classified under print, broadcast and electronic media. A community radio station is defined as a non-profit distributing which is designed to serve specific communities of location and interest, thereby providing programming that is relevant to the community, and with management structures that represent the community the station serves. (Lewis and Jones, 2006). It is operated in the community, for the community, about the community and by the community. It is said to be a sound broadcasting station that serves a specific section of society known as a community. The ownership and management of a community radio station is representative of the community that persues a social development agenda and which is non-profit...
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...Comparisson of Masculinity and the Psychoanalytic theories using the example of the Fight Club. Introduction. Fight club is an interesting film to be reflected through psychoanalytic and masculinity theories. In this essay I will attempt to present the number of elements of narrative that can be explained by these theories. I intend to use citations from Marc A. Price's essay The Fight for Self: The Language of the Unconscious in Fight club regarding psychoanalytical concepts such as ego, super-ego and the id as well as Lynn M. Ta's dissertation Hurt So Good: Fight Club, Masculine Violence, and the Crisis of Capitalism (regarding masulinity in the film), as these works were the main sources of my research. Then I'll try to come to the conclusion on which of two theories have more strength at being applied to films (primarily Fight Club). Application of theories and analysis. The connection that we shall draw between psychoanalytic theory and the film Fight Club is simple and is this; the narrator is a representation of the ego, for Tyler Durden we can substitute the id. In the Freudian psychic model the ego is the civilized part of consciousness. The ego is that part of the psychic apparatus that is modified so that a being can interact safely with other beings and thus remain accepted within the social group. It is important for identity formation that the individual is accepted by the group (that is wider society) therefore, a controlled id is...
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...To be completed by the student | To be completed by the markers | Module Name and code | BUZF319 | First Marker’s name (equivalent to the signature) | | Student ID (UoW) | 00002978 | Second Marker’s name (equivalent to the signature) | | Student ID (WIUT) | 00002978 | For Registrar’s office use only (hard copy submission) | Deadline date | 26.12.2013 | | Individual assignment | | | Group assignment | | | COURSEWORK SUBMISSION COVER PAGE Submission instructions Please note that all work must be submitted electronically unless instructed otherwise. For online submission instructions refer to: http://intranet.wiut.uz/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx - Coursework online submission instructions.doc For hardcopy submission instructions refer to: http://intranet.wiut.uz/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx - Coursework hard copy submission instructions.doc Feedback To be completed by markers on the next page | | 80%+ | 70-79% | 60-69% | 50-59% | 40-49% | 30-39% | 0-29% | Integrated Writing Task 70 % Weighting | Content and Structure | The written piece includes all the parts: introduction, two summaries, and conclusion. The written piece presents the main topic and key information provided in both sources. Transition and reporting verbs are masterly used. No personal view is included. | The written piece includes all the parts: introduction, two summaries, and conclusion. The written...
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