Meets the following requirements: HS   

Late 20th Century economically advanced  societies are characterized by high worker productivity and  high general  levels of consumption.  While this affluence is credited with  producing  such benefits as increased education and health care, it is also associated with much longer work hours, increased "lose-lose" social competition, fragmented communities, economic inequality, and environmental degradation; excessive and uneven consumption is blamed for  local and global unsustainability. This interdisciplinary course examines the characteristics and interactions of the Consumer Society, focusing on its economic roots, consequences for sustainability, and prospects for being altered in socially beneficial ways. We will examine capitalistic economic growth, its distribution,  its impact on happiness and well-being, and its social costs. We will use general and selected psychological, anthropological, and  especially sociological theories and empirical research  to explain behavior in the Consumer Society. An important course subtheme will be the changing nature of work: is there an association between alienation in the workplace and unhealthy consumption?  Would more meaningful work curb the excesses of the Consumer Society? Additionally,  environmental, economic, and cultural sustainability will be examined as normative criteria and used to evaluate the impact of the Consumer Society on long-term well-being. Other course themes include socioeconomic structural motivations to consume, the role of technology, geographic and social mobility, impacts on the provision of public goods (e.g. education and environmental protection), and the globalization of the Consumer Society. Student  evaluation will be based on responses to reading questions, several simple field exercises,  a review of a reading selected by the students, and  classroom participation.

Level:  Introductory.  Lab fee $15. *HS*