Bauman's Consuming Life

Consuming Life talks about the over indulgence of material goods in Western Culture.
I think Bauman is saying that our culture is out of balance regarding consumerism vs producer and that it has societal consequences.

For example, at the beginning he talks about how in the late 1920s society moved from producers to consumer (p. 7). How is this shift related to the Industrial Revolution? Before then people were more dependent on physical labor for production and consumption. Now with mass production maybe access to products became cheaper hence the producer to consumer shift. Also, I think that there is a relationship with the increased consumerism and more people working away from home (i.e. in factories). I know for myself when I’m away from home for long periods of time (vacation, conferences, ect.) to I begin to sift to a more consumer stance. At home I can balance my own production for consumption. I also think there is a connection between globalization and the global markets increasing consumerism (Bauman addresses this also).

He goes on later to talk about waste and excess (p. 38). This notion of waste and excess is also very cultural even within the US because from what I’ve experienced I feel that middle class Midwesterners tend to have a higher level of excess. This is seen in the big yards, large houses, and large vehicles. I think Midwesterners also tend to be larger people (height &/or weight)! I think know this is historical and related to topography. I’ve noticed compared to the east coast, people seem to have fewer cars and smaller dwellings. I’m not exactly sure about the west and south but I think it may be the same for similar reasons. I have not done or read studies or articles on this, but it would be interesting to find out more.

Would Bauman consider education consumption/consumerism? I think so. I don’t think he addresses education in particular, but I see some qualities of education reflected in the text. One example I’m thinking of when he explains that consumerism is a type of social arrangement that has a socializing effect (p. 28). This is the primary goal of education in the US. Also, at the beginning of chapter 2 he talks about reflexivity and personal excitement (p. 52). He is saying that people should be more thoughtful about their goals and life’s meaning. I think Parker Palmer also talks about this regarding the culture of teaching. He asks us to think about why we became teachers and to tap into the love of the work. Sometimes teachers get too caught up in external demands and forget why they joined the profession. Although there is always a call for reflexivity in teaching, but it is very difficult as it is a cultural shift.

I also can connect academic achievement to p. 68, because I think Bauman is discussing how a system is designed to get the results it is supposed to (such as education systems). Many kids that don’t do well in school underachieve because the system is under-serving them. It is a cultural mis-match and schools have a difficult time changing.

I love in Ch. 3 when he says “As a rule, they accept the short lifespan of things” (p 86) [regarding consumers]. The reason this connected with me is because teachers would tell me that they would wait out education initiatives because these initiatives would come and go like the wind (Bauman again discusses on p. 107). I believe that this is what many educators may say across the country. I noticed that things are not given a chance to work (3-5 years for change efforts) before they are completely discontinued. Instead of organizations reflecting on what has worked to move forward, a new model is introduced which does not take the learning from the old model. “Consuming life cannot be other than a life of rapid learning, but it also needs to be a life of swift forgetting” (p. 96)…

I enjoyed the section on Collateral Casualties of Consumerism because it talks a lot about intent vs. impact (i.e. war section) and how people don’t intend to do damage/hurt other people, but do so (sometimes large scale damage to other people and their lives). This problem is grounded in not enough perspective taking and relationship building in which the participants talk about their differences. As educators, we should be sure to attempt to instill this quality in our students and encourage them to use it regularly. Although I liked this session, the criticism I have with it is the politically loaded word terrorist (p. 118). “Terrorist” is heavily grounded in perspectives. Furthermore some of the text makes me uncomfortable due to its broad sweeping generalizations about people (“since those who planned and delivered it did not particularly care” p.119). Maybe they did care. Who is to say that they DID NOT care? I think that sometimes the language is overboard and promotes stereotypes.

Overall, I like reading Bauman’s book. I think maybe it was too loaded in his perspective and maybe he should have addressed the critics. If he had have done this, I would have thought that the work would have been more thorough. For example on p. 17 he says life’s necessities were “once upon a time obtained the hard way”. For example, a person living in poverty has to go through a very extensive and sometimes demeaning process to get food (i.e. food lines, food stamp office, etc) or clothes. This is getting life’s necessities in a hard way. His idea of the “hard way” is very culturally loaded. He took very hard lines on many issues. However, maybe that was Bauman’s goal.