Somebody Else's Problem Consumerism, Sustainability and Design

About this book

Consumerism promises a shortcut to a 'better' life through the accumulation of certain fashionable goods and experiences. Over recent decades, this has resulted in a rising tide of cheap, short-lived goods produced, used and discarded in increasingly rapid cycles, along the way depleting resources and degrading environmental systems.

Somebody Else's Problem calls for a radical change in how we think about our material world, and how we design, make and use the products and services we need. Rejecting the idea that individuals alone are responsible for the environmental problems we face, it challenges us to look again at the systems, norms and values we take for granted in daily life, and their cumulative role in our environmental crisis.

Robert Crocker presents an overview of the main forces giving rise to modern consumerism, looks closely at today's accelerating consumption patterns and asks why older, more 'custodial' patterns of consumption are in decline. Avoiding simplistic quick-fix formulas, Somebody Else's Problem explores recommendations for new ways of designing, making and using goods and services that can reduce our excess consumption, but still contribute to a good and meaningful life.

Contents

Foreword by Stuart Walker  
Introduction: The problem with consumerism

Part 1: From consumption to consumerism

1. Pleasure and luxury in consumption
- Pleasure in consumption
- Deception and choice in consumerism
- The idea of luxury
- The democratization of luxury
- Hogarth's A Rake's Progress
- Somebody and nobody

2. Imitation in design and consumption
- Imitation and global trade
- Adaptive imitation in design
- Consumption and imitation
- From imitation to hyper-consumption

3. Vision and ideology in design and consumption
- The rise of the consumer citizen
- Design, vision and ideology
- William Morris's gospel of work
- Shaping the ideal home through design
- Inside the 'design factory'

4. Enabling systems in consumption
- Systems and their sunk-cost effects
- The freedom of the road
- The dream of flight
- Individualization and substitution
- Learning from pedestrians

Part 2: The escalation of consumption

5. Comparison, competition and consumerism
- The fifties syndrome
- The newcomers
- Comparison and competition
- Managing product value
- Space inflation

6. Technology and acceleration
- Founding myths
- From augmentation to control
- The high cost of optimization
- A Revolution in Time
- From the digital to the 'physible'

7. The consumption of nature
- From the gardens of childhood
- Understanding 'nature'
- Nature as idea
- The conquest of nature
- Telling stories about nature
- Nature as perfection
- Natural Zombies

Part 3: Towards sustainable consumption

8. Learning from the past
- What is 'sustainable consumption'?
- Enabling the good life
- My father's books
- Custodian consumption
- Towards the throwaway society

9. Values, goals and time
- Catching up with debt
- The heart of the dilemma
- A self-centred society
- Learning to play the flute
- Rediscovering the land

10. From post-caution to precaution
- The post-cautionary principle
- Asking questions first
- The many uses of co-creation
- Co-creation through living labs
- Locating the precautionary
- Towards sustainable consumption

Conclusion

Customer Reviews

Biography

Robert Crocker is Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development. He teaches the history and theory of design and design for sustainability at the University of South Australia.