Benjamin Barber, a political theorist and author of Jihad vs. McWorld, wades into the debate on shopping and advertising in Consumed. His is an ambitious book that seeks to define a period as well as to outline forms of resistance, which include a new type of global citizenship. A century ago German sociologist Max Weber attributed the rise of capitalism to a new religious spirit, a Protestant ethos of saving and hard work. That argument has yielded a small library of elaborations and refutations. Barber, who is not exactly a shrinking violet, seeks to revise Weber with an idea equally 'provocative and controversial'--the notion of an 'infantilist ethos.' Once upon a time capitalism, driven by a Protestant spirit, 'shaped a culture conducive to work and investment,' serving nations and citizens, but today a consumerist capitalism, driven by an 'infantilist ethos,' 'shapes a culture conducive to laxity, shopping, and spending,' turning us into hapless shoppers and in the process gutting democracy. Not only have children and teens become a vast consuming market but adults no longer grow up: 'Aging adults remain youth consumers throughout their lives.'
From a generally negative review by Russell Jacoby in The Nation, which concludes:
The problem is not the weak prose but the anemic ideas. Barber believes he is offering a bold "utopian dream." But where is the utopia? His goal of "democratizing globalization" and restoring "the balance between citizens and consumers" suggests tinkering, not transformation. At his best, Barber gives us decaf liberalism brewed with fair-trade coffee.
I generally think well of Barber. Readers may wish to draw their own conclusions from his latest book (which I have not yet seen.)
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