Except for some economists, who think about the consumer society as a way to the political stability and economic progress, the philosophical and sociological view on consumptionism and consumer society is predominantly pejorative. Depending on their axiological starting points, theorists of consumptionism stress its destroying forces for societies, like social idleness, an implosion of social institutions, deepening of social divisions and social exclusion and, last but not least, ecocide. Criticism of the consumer society is also of growing significance (...) for the theological agenda of various Christian Churches and the teaching of ecumenical organizations like the World Council of Churches. The article aims to summarise different approaches to consumptionism and its definitions, which are ordered in two categories: analytical and historical. It also discusses the teaching of Pope Francis, who contributes to the theological perspective of the criticism of the consumer society and focuses on the term of anthropological error as a hermeneutical instrument of this criticism. This task requires employing two main research methods: analysis of selected and relevant literature and synthesising exposition of the results of research. The discourse consists of two parts. The first one presents the term of consumptionism and highlights the scope of discussions on the definitions of this phenomenon. The second demonstrates the Christian interpretation of the problem. The first and the second chapters create a hermeneutical background to the third one; they even might be regarded as its contextualisation. The theological critique of consumer society contributes to the interdisciplinary theory of consumptionism. Contribution: The theological critique of consumer society contributes to the interdisciplinary theory of consumptionism. It also shows how theology might refer to social studies. Such a juxtaposition of the theological and sociological fields of reflection converges with the focus and scope of the journal to promote multidisciplinary aspects of studies in the general theological area. (shrink)

Today, modern large-scale production has created a real life world for people. People's life is so greatly dominated by production that we can say people's life is the life being produced. The basic features of modern life are: First, modern lifestyle is a consumptionism-oriented lifestyle. Consumption has become the main content of modern life. As a result, it is very difficult to distinguish life from consumption. People have changed into consumers. Second, modern lifestyle is a lifestyle of the generalization (...) of commodity logic. Commodity logic has pulled whole society onto the track of the commodity production. People's life is inevitably dominated by the commodity logic, resulting in the prevalence of materialism and money worship. Third, modern lifestyle is a highly homogenized lifestyle,eliminating the possible development of individual personality. The main problems of modern life are: First, lack of conscious reflection of life, People have been lost in a fake sense of happiness. People indulge in a fake sense of happiness created by consumption without any selfconsciousness. Second, lack of correct self-understanding, People have been lost in formal personality. The expressions of formal personality are lack of serious rational thinking. Third, lack of the concern about the transcendent dimension of life, People have been lost in the present dimension of life. People's life has been filled with all kinds of consumergoods and illusions that evoke. Therefore, no room has been left for transcendent issues, such as, the meaning of life. (shrink)

Zygmunt Bauman is not only a sociologist and philosopher reputable in the world of science, he is also a father figure for people interested in the phenomenon of globalization. Bauman investigates how current economic and political changes influence the lives of particular societies. It was important to underline that also economists can make use of Bauman’s ideas but with a few reservations That is why the following crucial areas were proposed relating to economic aspects: the meaning of consumptionism and (...) wastage; global inequalities; the reasons and consequences of the global economic crisis, and some heterodox matters such as happiness, welfare, and well-being, all of which can be helpful in understanding the multidimensional globalization process. (shrink)

The characteristic discriminant of contemporary societies, particularly in economically developed countries, is, on the one hand, the expansion of consumerism in various spheres of economic and social life, while on the other hand, it is the attempt to restrict excessive consumption. The principal aim of this paper is the description of the chosen changes in consumption in contemporary society and their economic consequences. The author searches for answers to the following question: What orientations mark out the behaviour of consumers in (...) the market? In the search for answers to this question, the orientation towards excessive consumption that is stimulated by the ideology of consumerism and deconsumption as a protest against consumerism have been placed under analysis. In analysing the ideology of consumerism, the main styles of consumerism have been indicated as follows: consumption of pleasures, compulsive consumption and symbolic consumption. In contrast to the behaviour associated with over-consumption, the behaviour in pursuit of the restriction of the consumption of goods indirectly connected with actual needs has been described, namely sustainable consumption and anti-consumption, as well as the voluntary simplicity movement in consumption. (shrink)