The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism

by Colin Campbell

The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism was first piblished by Basil Blackwell of Oxford in 1987. Editions have appeared in Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian and Chinese but no copies have been available in English since 1998. This Alcuin Academic edition has been published to fill this gap and meet the needs of those academics and students who have contacted me in search of an English-language version of the book. I have appended to this edition a list of my publicatrions on consumption that have appeared since 1987. I have considered writing a revised edition which critics as well as friends have suggested is long overdue. This is a task that I do intend to undertake in the near future; and hopefully in time fore the twentieth anniversary of the book's publication.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, History, Romanticism, Economics

312 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 1987

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Colin Campbell is professor emeritus at the University of York (UK). He has written on the sociology of religion and sociological theory in addition to the sociology of consumption

Reviews

[Neal Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

By ‘modern consumerism’ the author means the cycle of ephemeral desires for fashion and other goods. Although capitalist production facilitates the sheer magnitude of this, the author argues that there must be more to it, based on, for example, the increased frequency of fashion changes from the late 18th century onwards.

He locates part of the cause in the romantic world view which, via its emphasis on being true to one’s inner spirit (‘a man in all the truth of nature, and that man myself’, quoting Rousseau). Thus Campbell concludes that ‘The romantic world-view provided the highest possible motives with which to justify day-dreaming, longing and the rejection of reality, together with the pursuit of originality in life and art’. Hence he argues that deferred gratification is alive and well in current consumerism, as we imagine that a particular product will result in a transformed and more valid self, before the purchase leads to inevitable disillusion.

The other strand in explaining consumerism (what he calls modern autonomous imaginative hedonism) is the moral justification. This he traces back to post-Calvinist Protestantism via 18th century sentimentalism. Admitting that this may seem surprising, he takes care to put this theory alongside, or rather chronologically after, the origin of Weber’s Protestant work ethic. He argues that the supremacy of inner grace soon required ways to ascertain its presence in a given person and hence ways to demonstrate it oneself (think ‘Quaking’). With help from the Cambridge Platonists this evolved into secular sentimentalism in the 18th century. Thus, emotions induced my movie melodrama or tear-jerking news items allow one to conclude ‘I am positive I have a soul’.

Overall it’s an ambitious argument but well sustained, and more thoroughgoing than typical, more simplistic, accounts of consumerism. For example, we can blame advertisers for being manipulative but the consumer must have some pre-existing qualities to be manipulated.

[smallwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

承襲著韋伯《新教倫理與資本主義精神》的方式繼續探討工業革命後的消費主義和倫理的銜結

其實作者也很會發明詞彙
型男倫理其實生自斯多噶主義 :P

消費行為也符合了在馬克思的上層結構...從貴族階級影響到平民 :P

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

...a crucial feature of the hedonist is an inherent tendency toward despotism. since pleasure can only be successfully assessed subjectively yet is a function of the sensations arising from objects and events in the environment, the pleasure seeker will naturally be pushed toward acquiring greater and greater control over all that surrounds him. such control is not merely a question of ensuring that others submit to his will, but is more a matter of possessing complete power over all sources of sensations so that the continuous adjustments can be made which ensure prolonged pleasure. there will however be an irreducible element of frustration for even the most powerful of individuals as not only will some actions fail to have the kind of stimulative power anticipated of them whilst some stimuli remain out of reach, but it will also prove impossible for those who seek to please their master to anticipate successfully all his changes of taste and mood

[Iben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating complementary read to Weber, Campbell explores the roots of the enjoyment of pleasure in 18th and 19th century society. He argues that while the massive growth of capitalist production can perhaps be attributed to the so-called Protestant ethic, it does not explain the concurrent growth in consumption.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

A

[Larry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blackwell is dry, pedantic, wanders far from the topic and never does quite get to the point.