Editor's Choice, September 15, 1999

Anthropology in the Modern World: On Consumerism

One of the major figures in the history of anthropology is Franz Boas. ( or here). Boas received his training in Germany and became a Professor at Columbia University in 1899 and is perhaps best known for introducing the notion of cultural relativism to the social sciences. Boas's ideas were formed in part by his experiences as a German Jew coming to the United States when there was widespread discrimination against immigrants in general, and Jews in particular. Boas in many ways was the first anthropological activist. He sought to refute ethnocentrism   and the idea that some people were genetically superior to others, by arguing that differences in beliefs and behavior were culturally and historically determined. Boas led one of the earliest initiatives of science to combat racism and prejudice.

Anthropology remains a strong source of cultural criticism. Anthropologists try to use knowledge of other cultures to help us better understand our own. One of the things you should get out of an introductory course in anthropology is that you are, like every other human being, a cultural animal  whose behaviors and beliefs are collectively formed and maintained. And since our behaviors and beliefs are culturally formed, they can be changed, particularly, as in the case of racism and prejudice, when they contribute to injustice and suffering. To illustrate the power of anthropology as a source of self-knowledge, we will devote this semester's columns of Editor's Choice to showing how anthropology can help us understand ourselves, particularly when our behavior or beliefs have the potential to do harm.

Take, for example the consumption habits built into our culture; why do Americans consume as much as they do? Not only must Americans buy, they must buy more every year, and still more the year after that. Without perpetual consumption, the economy would either decline or collapse. The sign of a healthy national economy, as economists tell us, is measured by the Gross National Product (GNP), and the GNP is a measure of the quantity of goods and services people consume. But the consumption habits that characterize our culture comes at a cost.

First, consumption is not "natural." That is, there is no innate drive in human beings to buy more and more. We have to be taught to desire the latest fashions and fads. That is why corporations spend billions of dollars each year on advertising. You can read about how advertisers changed our lives by examining the advertising career of Helen Rosen Woodward.

Second, consumption dictates the nature of basic institutions, such as the family. To maximize the consumption of commodities, families had to be transformed from units of production (such as the typical farm family) to units of consumption. You can read about how that was done in Women as Mothers an article by Dona Schwartz that discusses how family roles, particularly of mothers, were redefined in ways to maximize the consumption of commodities. You can also get an idea of how the role of children was defined by reading Nicky, Mickey, and Barbie by the editor

Third, consumption required putting a price on virtually everything, because the more "things" that can be converted to commodities, the greater the potential for economic growth. Items that people share, or that are given away for free, cannot contribute to the economy. For example, one of the consequences of advances in medicine, is the growth of transplant surgery. And one of the economic consequences of that is the demand for body parts. This demand has created a whole new commodity--the human body. As anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes demonstrates in her article "The New Cannibalism," the results can be horrific.

Fourth, over-consumption is the major cause of environmental pollution. For example, many people blame population growth for environmental devastation. Yet the United States, with one-fifth the population of China, has ten-times the impact on the environment. (see Ecological Footprints of Nations).

Finally, nation-states, corporations, and multi-lateral institutions, such as the World Bank () and the International Monetary Fund, in their effort to promote "economic growth," are trying to encourage greater amounts of consumption  in so-called "underdeveloped" countries .The consequences of this could be disastrous. For example, in the United States there is one automobile for every 1.7 persons; in China there is one automobile for every 680 persons. But the Chinese people (with the full support of the Chinese government, not to mention automobile manufacturers) want to have as many cars as Americans do. The result could be an ecological disaster.

None of this means that we must stop buying things. Business and trade are ancient activities, and generally beneficial. But, until the emergence of consumer culture, there has never been a society that defined trade and continuous consumption of commodities as the ultimate source of well-being. What can we do about it? We can begin by asking why do we consume as much as we do?  You can also ask yourself how much do you know about responsible consumption?  You can also examine your own values and ask, how addicted am I to unlimited consumption?

In sum, if we compare our beliefs and behaviors to those of others, we can gain a perspective we otherwise would be denied; and once we gain that perspective, we can ask whether or these beliefs and behaviors may be detrimental to portions of, if the entire, human species.

You can find more resources on the consumer at the editor's Web site at:
http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/richard.robbins/legacy/consumer_resources.htm