A Study On Baudrillard's Consumer Society Theory

French philosopher and sociologist Jean Baudrillard (1929 2007) was known as a leader of postmodernism. He advanced the consumer society theory in 70s of the 20th century, deeply revealing substantive characteristics and development trend of the contemporary western society. The study on Baudrillard's consumer society theory is not only beneficial for us to understand characteristics of Postmodernism, but also positively significant for us to understand phenomena in domestic fields.This thesis intends to unscramble text of Baudrillard's consumer society theory, and explain the characteristics production and development of consumer society. The first chapter introduces foreign and domestic research status of Baudrillard's thoughts, and explains the research significance. The second chapter introduces social theoretical background of consumer society theory, and summarizes the theoretical frame. The third chapter mainly analyzes formation cause of consumer society, wherein symbolization of functional object and unfunctional object is firstly analyzed, and then sign operation in consumer society is explained from the perspectives of model and series. The fourth chapter summarizes the characteristics of consumer society. Baudrillard revealed some problems caused by increase and welfare revolution, and deeply criticized the spiritual world completely intervened by signs in consumer society. The fifth chapter analyzes the future of consumer society. According the Baudrillard's theory, consumer society has made a significant impact on technology and culture fields, and that significant impact results in field implosion and the others'fade, and finally disorganize the original western order. Baudrillard figured out that that condition would continue for a long time, without any effective solution. Then, this thesis applies consumer society theory to unscramble domestic problems rising after Reform and Opening-up, such as money-worship thought, craze for culture industry and anti-character idol. The Conclusion indicates that Baudrillard utilized semeiology and psychoanalysis as tools to explain various phenomena in modern western society. His ideological basis makes him on one hand oppose nihilism, and on the other hand construct a gloomy future for the western society.