Zadok Paper S101 Winter 1999
The Abuse of Consumerism
by Dave Collis

The silencing of the 'other'

Wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?"[141] 

Up to this point we've focussed on ways in which consumerism provides barriers to the emplotment of a coherent narrative identity. Specifically, we've seen that consumerism deprives the consumer of the necessary fictive resources for the process. Underlying this has been an assumption that the consumer is attempting to emplot their lives. We've in effect argued: Given the consumer is trying to emplot their lives, the removal of fictive resources is how consumerism operates to prevent the formation of a narrative identity. But this assumption about motivation is not necessarily true and, as we will explore in this final section, the effect of consumerism to take away this motivation constitutes the most ominous presence of consumerism. In short I shall be arguing that as well as frustrating consumers who attempt to emplot their lives through the removal of fictive resources as we have seen, consumerism acts in its most insidious and abusive way by removing even the motivation of consumers to emplot their lives; and it achieves this by estranging people from each other through its individualistic mode of operation.

Although this section may appear to be about ethics and morals, I want to avoid any of the major disputes by pitching the discussion within the boundaries of Ricoeur's narrative theory. According to Ricoeur, it is the 'call of the other' as involved in the process of narrative identity formation which is the source of morality. Consequently, morality arises as part of the narrative identity formation process rather than standing outside it. Within a narrative framework, therefore, "Moral judgment has not been abolished; it is rather itself subjected to the imaginative variations proper to fiction."[142]  It is to this 'call of the other' as the basis of the motivation for emplotment that we now turn.

Fundamental to Ricoeur's notion of narrative identity is the idea that the identity of the self is constituted in response to the call of an other (or set of others) rather than existing in any absolute sense of being able to name itself. Kathleen Blamey provides a summary of the notion of the summoned self. "The call of the human other, the neighbour, for justice and compassion secures the ethical and political aspects of forging a narrative identity . . . . my self is constituted by the other who calls me to responsibility".[143] 

More specifically, the forging of identity occurs within the acceptance of the demands implied by making promises to other humans. Ricoeur argues that a promise transforms the 'tormenting question' "Who am I?" into "Who am I, so inconstant, that notwithstanding you count on me?"[144]  It is the call of the other which takes a person from a point of utmost nebulosity of identity in asking 'Who am I?' to the implied semi-coherence of the one who can ask, 'Who am I that you count on me?'

The gap between the question which engulfs the narrative imagination [Who am I?] and the answer of the subject who has been made responsible by expectation of the other [you count on me] becomes the secret break at the very heart of commitment.[145] 

The 'secret break' at the heart of the call to identity is exactly what is discouraged by consumerism. Consumerism silences the call of the other so as to leave the consumer self 'unsummoned' wherein she or he lacks the ethico-moral framework stemming from the ability to make a promise. This removal of the call of the other, I want to suggest, is achieved through the individualism so central to consumer culture.

TERMINAL WANDERLUST: A condition common to people of transient middle-class upbringings. Unable to feel rooted in any one environment, they move continually in the hopes of finding an idealised sense of community in the next location.[146] 

Wachtel argues that the price paid for the great accumulation of wealth achieved under capitalism has been a loss of "our sense of being rooted in a community".[147]  He describes the process of increasing individualism in the following terms.

For most of human history people lived in tightly knit communities in which each individual had a specified place and in which there was a strong sense of shared fate. The sense of belonging, of being part of something larger than oneself, was an important source of comfort. In the face of the dangers and the terrifying mysteries that the lonely individual encountered, this sense of connectedness-along with one's religious faith, which often could hardly be separated from one's membership in the community-was for most people the main way of achieving some sense of security and the courage to go on.

Over the past few hundred years, for a number of reasons, the sense of rootedness and belonging has been declining. In its place has appeared a more highly differentiated sense of individuality, implying both greater opportunity and greater separateness.[148] 

Consumerism's intense individualism is revealed most elegantly by a recent advertisement for National Mutual's superannuation plans. Having painted a life picture with sunny images and sentimental melodies, the advertisement ends in a voiceover which states: "National Mutual tailored superannuation plans: For the most important person in the world . . . you". This individualism, I want to argue, is the key means through which consumerism removes the call of the other. Being less and less connected to other people the consumer self cannot be summoned by other people. Individuals in consumer culture receive little motivation to emplot their lives according to any story of liberation for other people. More specifically, those groups of people who would naturally give to consumers the most immediate sense of calling-the poor and the marginalised-are silenced beneath the juggernaut of consumer images to the point that consumers cannot hear their authentic summoning voice.

In this paper we've seen the critique of consumerism developed and applied to the identity of the consumer. Drawing from Ricoeur's narrative theory I've argued that consumer culture provides inadequate resources for drawing a coherent sense of identity both because of its lack of history and because of its banishing and blurring of images which have the potential to offer such a unity-nature's images and religious images being two key examples. More than this, however, consumerism acts in its most insidious way by establishing an hegemonic individualism which removes the call of the other upon which the desire for a coherent identity is largely drawn.

Fiction has the power to "remake" reality and, within the framework of narrative fiction in particular, to remake real praxis.[149] 

In this paper I have drawn attention to the abusive nature of consumerism by showing structural similarities between its mode of operation and the operation of sexual abuse. Presenting itself as a set of timeless truths, consumerism demands consumer acceptance through the bombardment of many advertisements and media images. The effects of consumerism become clearer when viewed in narrative terms: Lacking any coherent narrative structure, the fragmented story of consumerism leads naturally to a fragmented and depthless sense of personal identity for the consumer. Without a coherent story to call their own, the consumer cannot feel part of any narrative bigger than him or herself.

Such a narrative approach implies that the hope for healing change is bound up with the search to find an alternative story. People would not walk past the cold and hungry so readily if they saw themselves as belonging to the same story. The significance of the symbolic structures of consumerism cannot be overlooked in contemplating social and political change. Maybe a hopeful alternative story can be the reformulation the Christian eschatological hope of God's Great Economy (Kingdom of God) being ushered in through the political and spiritual actions of the liberator Jesus. Or maybe a combination of new stories (plural) need to be created for our postmodern pluralistic situation through an act of courageous political imagination.

The task of this paper, however, has not been to specify the particular narrative form in which we might find a new identity, but rather to critically identify the striking need for an alternative to consumerism's abusive and fragmented story.

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Dave Collis is project worker for Jubilee 2000 Campaign in Australia, and is involved with street ministries with the Urban Mission Unit of Collins Street Baptist Church and the St Vincent de Paul Society.