For a genealogy of responsibility in consumption

For a genealogy of responsibility in consumption

Isleide A. Fontenelle

PhD, Associate Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas, São Paulo-Brazil

idefontenelle@uol.com.br

Although the autonomy of consumers - in the sense of freedom to define their needs and desires and to make their choices - is at the center of the liberal tradition, the culture of consumption throughout the twentieth century, never explicitly suggested that consumers assume responsibility for their choices. On the contrary, this consumer culture was constituted far from any public or private discourse that would point to a “responsible consumer". It appealed, instead, to the imperative of excess and disposability, which it could - and should – “enjoy” at any price, as is vividly demonstrated by the marketing strategies that began being used as from that period, particularly advertising.

But as from the mid-1990s, the discourse about responsible consumption began to gain greater relevance, especially the discourse about the environment. Strictly speaking, criticism of the excesses of consumer society is also nothing new, dating back as it does to the same historical period as the hegemonic discourse on the blessings of the consumption culture. However, it was marginal criticism, either in the academic field, or adopted by the currents of aesthetic or social movements. The new aspect that this article intends investigating is the moment when this discourse begins to become hegemonic and part of the mainstream, and what this indicates. 

In order to grasp this phenomenon, this study proposes a genealogy of responsibility in the field of consumption that considers both the theoretical and critical production of consumer society, as well as the new marketing production that constructed the discourse about responsible consumption.