A Study Of Western Marxist Critical Theory Of Consumer Alienation

Consumption,as an important expression of the development of human civilisation and social progress,has penetrated into all activities of human society.With the invasion of alienation from the realm of production into the realm of consumption,the social contradictions and crises of capitalism have become more and more prominent,bringing about various existential dilemmas for people.Western Marxism has studied the alienation of consumption in depth and developed a critical theory of consumer alienation.It is the theoretical expression of the political,economic,social and cultural contradictions inherent in Western capitalist countries in the process of modern industrial civilisation.Many of the problems encountered by Western countries in the process of modernisation will inevitably be encountered in the process of modernisation in China as well.Therefore,the study of the alienation of consumption in Western capitalist countries is of great theoretical and practical significance in eliminating the ills of similar problems that have arisen in the modernisation process in China,and in promoting the road to socialism with Chinese characteristics and building a strong,democratic,civilised,harmonious and beautiful socialist modern state.After the Second World War,Western capitalism entered a consumer society,mass culture emerged,and the rapid development of science and technology accelerated the machine-based production of large industries.Western consumption took on new characteristics and changes,manifesting itself in irrational consumption such as blind consumption,symbolic consumption,ostentatious consumption and luxury consumption.Western Marxism analysed the background of the capitalist era and systematically sorted out the contents of the critical theory of consumption alienation based on the critical inheritance of Marx’s alienated labour and commodity fetishism,Van Buren’s ostentatious consumption and Simmel’s fashionable consumption,forming the farreaching Western Marxist critical theory of consumption alienation.This article reveals the external manifestations and internal logic of consumer alienation,analyses the causes of consumer alienation in terms of political domination,material production and ideology and culture,and proposes a path to eliminate consumer alienation.While clarifying the development of Western Marxist critical theories of consumer alienation and elaborating their main contents,this book also assesses their value and draws on theoretical ideas and practical values that are useful for solving the problem of consumption in China.With the acceleration of the globalisation process,the problem of consumption has evolved into a global issue and the alienation of consumption has become a common phenomenon in today’s society.The Western Marxist critique of consumer alienation helps China to be alert to the intrusion of consumer alienation and to reflect on the relationship between human beings and society and ecology,and has a positive reference role in avoiding the move towards consumer alienation and building a scientific and healthy consumption system.While drawing on the beneficial values of Western Marxian consumer alienation,it is important to overcome its limitations,transcend the utopian and incomplete nature of its theory,and explore a theoretical system of consumption with Chinese characteristics,taking into account the new characteristics and manifestations of the Chinese consumption problem.