It is reported that the average person is estimated to encounter between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day (Carr 2021). As I scroll through social media I am faced with a constant stream of “recommended for you” advertisements, along with posts from fashion influencers showcasing their newest outfits. This made me wonder, what is our relationship as consumers with these growing commercial giants? Especially growing up in Post Colonial Hong Kong, the ongoing shifts & changes taking place in contemporary China continue to intrigue me.
In this essay, I will aim to explore the ever-evolving relationship between consumer culture (defined by Arthur Berger as a culture “in which there has been a great expansion of commodity production, leading to societies full of consumer goods”) and the democratisation of consumption, following further development around the concept of ‘the spectacle’ (2004) and commodity fetishism.
Continuing on, I will then apply these terms to investigate the permeation of modernity from West to East by studying how contemporary post-Maoist Chinese society has adopted the idea of capitalist consumer culture within the great digital firewall.
Modernity, defined by Charles Baudelaire in The Painter of Modern life (1868) as “the transient, the fleeting and the contingent” embodied notions surrounding rapid technical development, an increase in factory & industrialised production, along with rapid urban growth in pursuit of the modern city, all factors that resulted in catalysing the flux of consumer culture. While consumerism predated the 19th century, increased production ultimately led manufacturers to devise ways to stimulate desire, thus introducing the birth of “the spectacle”, a term introduced by Guy Debord, along with exhibitions such as the “folk festival” in The crystal palace, London.
The birth of “The spectacle”, described by Walter Benjamin as “a fairyland with a dream-like appeal to the subconscious, re-enchants the modern world.” transformed the shopping trip into a social experience as consumers were presented with a showcase of goods that encouraged a modern fascination of the remarkable sights that weren’t found at home. (Bowlby 1)
Furthermore, these exotic goods were there to be seen by “tout le monde” and were therefore no longer luxuries prerogative of the aristocracy. Further examined in Guy Debord’s work In the late 1960s, writing on the “spectacle de a marchandise”, Debord crystallized how the spectacle welcomed the democratisation of consumerism as people would go out of their way (se dé-placer) to marvel at displays of modern industrial production. As seen in Image one, the marketplace has shifted into a bourgeois leisure space, with glass window displays featuring the latest garments and products. Described by Bowlby, “Commodities were put on show in an attractive guise, becoming unreal in that they were images set apart from everyday things, and real in that they were there to be bought and taken home to enhance the ordinary environment”
Alongside The spectacle, a phenomenon coined “Commodity fetishism” by Karl Marx (1818-1883) arose. Describing this paradigm in which a commodity’s worth is determined on their own terms outside of their direct utility, its values are “constructed as a kind of mythical force, as the products of labor are in constant need of deciphering and interpretation, as their basic & most immediately apparent form of value, their ‘use-value’, has been superseded and replaced.” (Fink 2019). This act of commodifying objects introduces a new factor into the economic market as their value is determined regarding their unique qualities, their purpose, or their ability to satisfy a need. We begin to see the object and imagine the qualities it will endow us with: whether it be style, a fashionability, a personality type or tribal affiliation. Paired with the world of Modernity, described as “the world of spectacle and mass communication” (Wilson, 10-12), the 20th century saw the arrival of advertising on a much grander scale encouraging the creation of fictions to sell these commodities, as manufacturers were no longer selling solely the commodity, but “A story attached to a manufactured object” (Twitchell).
The penetration of consumer culture and the globalisation of modernity was further permeated by the growth of imperial Britain’s empire. An example of this can be seen in colonial Hong Kong. Ceded by China to Great Britain in 1842 after The Opium War (1919-19349) for 99 years, the territory became internationally known as a trading port, ultimately bringing commodities from the west to the east. During its period of colonisation, Hong Kong’s role as an entrepôt, a manufacturing and financial center also played a vital role in the trade and modernisation of China. (Leung 2021)
In comparison to its western counterparts, The People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s treatment of modernist ideals differed as The great firewall allowed China to develop unique applications through its strict censorship of International media. In the following paragraphs, I will be studying and comparing the evolution of Chinese consumer culture during the Maoist Era (1949-1976) and its consumer revolution and its effects in contemporary Modern China through further developing how China has created its own Spectacles in response to “Commodity fetishism”.
Led by Chinese Marxist theorist and statesman Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the People’s Republic of China (PRC) crystallized ideas surrounding his radical visions of communism and the rejecting of capitalist values (Elshaikh, Khan academy) early in his political career.
Mao’s indoctrinations and views towards uniformity and patriotism quickly spread across the newly formed Chinese proletariat class. Ideals around the demonisation of self-expression were enforced, whereby citizens feared that any public expression of difference could signal political disloyalty. (Obukhova) An example of this was demonstrated through Women’s dress during the Maoist Era, viewing fashion as purely functional. Women who identified with the anti-consumerist ideas conformed to uniform styles. As mentioned in Deborah Davis’ Studies, “Women have become the advocates of the Maoist Vision of a de-commodified modernity”. This advocacy of ‘de-commodified modernity’ was illustrated by a high degree of uniformity in cultural expression, as seen in image two, depicting women fashioning the nearly identical cotton “Mao suits” inspired by the Lenin suit worn by Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), featuring a jacket-and-trouser combination, a large turned-down collar, side buttons, and side pocket.
However, in 1978, led by Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997), major transformations were officially sanctioned in relation to the PRC’s association with market capitalist countries. Known as the “The Reform Era”, Leaders once again permitted small private plots of land for small-scale private enterprises, catalysing competition that helped drive consumerism. Even without modern advertising designed to teach people about their inadequacies, the spread of these everyday technologies such as sewing machines, bicycles, and radios popularised an impression of individual ‘backwardness’ that could only be overcome with the possession of mass-produced products, things one had to buy.
Continuing on with the ongoing effects of the consumer revolution, present-day China has continued advancing with the use of the internet, as it has created a paradigm shift of shopping behaviour (Hasslinger 2007). This internet-based electronic commerce lends the purchasing process conveniently to customers, rendering them capable of purchasing at any time or any place, and discussing the functions and evaluations of the products with other customers freely. (Degeratu 2000) E-commerce website Taobao (www.taobao.com) is now the biggest network for consumers’ online shopping in China. Established in 2003, taobao.com is wholly owned by the largest Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba (Li 2008) and facilitates an online transactional platform for companies and individual sellers to establish their own online Image two: A photo depicting women wearing “Mao suits” stores, targeting customers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao. (Shanghai Daily 2008)
Evolving beyond the initial “spectacle” consisting of window displays at a department store, Taobao provides a social interactive element to the world of consumer culture, allowing consumers to pay online using Alipay, (a digital wallet used by more than a billion users in China), communicate with other customers, and receive real-time replies from vendors almost instantaneously. In addition to this, the idea of the “spectacle” has allowed Taobao sellers to create auction-like livestream events lasting an average of 6-7 hours, featuring a showcase rotation of an averaging 45 garments at rapid speed, offering discounts alongside the display. (BEME News 2019)
Furthermore, Taobao retailers often gain a cult following from representing themselves as style influencers and celebrities from their brands. An example of this can be seen from Taobao vendor Da Jin, listed as Taobao’s number two top seller with a fan base of 2.63 million people on Weibo, and 2.86 million on Taobao. (Forbes 2018) The photos she posts, often depicting a relaxing, desirable lifestyle consisting of pastel colour ways act as advertising for her Taobao store, (https://dakin.world.taobao.com/), often creating demand and hype as soon as she posts. Referring back to the term “Commodity Fetishism”, Da Jin not only presents herself as a salesperson and business owner, but an embodiment of the brand image, lifestyle, and personality her products convey. It seems that TaoBao.com sellers adapt to the flux and transience of modernity along with the phenomenon of “commodity fetish” by creating not only demand via her online auctioning with limited availabilities, but a cult following around their life on social media as well.
In conclusion, in this essay I have studied the terms, “the spectacle” and “commodity fetish” when deciphering the relationship between consumer culture and modernity, along with analysing the democratisation of consumerism, and the widespread use of advertisements that followed. I then compared the permeation of modernisation in Western society with the opposing attitudes held by the Maoist regime in The People’s Republic of China, studying the pressures of conformity and the demonisation of consumerism using the “Mao suit” as an example, along with comparing its communist ideals with the market reforms that took place that introduced the consumer revolution, establishing China as the e-commerce capital of the world.