A Study On Ben Agger’s Alienation Consumption Theory

After the two industrial revolutions,the Western countries have experienced rapid economic development,the post-industrial life of material abundance that was envisioned has not come as expected.On the contrary,the rapid economic development has triggered a crisis in the ecological field.On the surface,the economic prosperity has improved the living standard and consumption capacity of workers,but in turn,it has stimulated the endless expansion of the masses’ desire for consumption,which has gradually fallen into a huge crisis of alienated consumption.The ecological crisis caused by the alienated consumption in capitalist society has brought about considerable negative effects on social development and human progress,which prompted Agger to analyze the phenomenon of alienation of consumption in society in depth.Based on Marx’s theory of alienated labor,Marcuse’s theory of false demand,and Rice’s theory of alienated consumption,Agger systematically sorts out the intrinsic correlation between consumption,production,and ecology in capitalist society,and uses alienated consumption as an entry point to analyze that the crisis of contemporary capitalist society has shifted from the production field to the ecological field.Agger puts forward the theory that "human satisfaction ultimately lies in productive activities rather than in consumption activities",hoping that by reconstructing the theoretical form of Marxism,the focus of the new capitalist social movement can be shifted to socialist change,and alienation can finally be dissolved.Starting with the phenomenon of alienated consumption,Agger analyzes the causes,consequences,and solutions of alienated consumption.In a consumer society,alienated consumption is a new tool of domination.The capitalist system controls the masses through the alienation of consumption,using consumption as a means to eliminate the masses’ sense of resistance and reducing them to consumers domesticated by the demands of capitalist social development.Agger points out that alienated consumption causes alienation of man from himself,alienation of man from society,and alienation of man from nature,and that alienation must be dissolved by promoting an eco-socialist revolution.Second,Agger’s idea of alienated consumption has its distinctive theoretical characteristics,which are constructive,critical and practical.In the process of critiquing capitalist ideology,economy and politics,Agger systematically elaborates the theory of consumption,reconstructs a theoretical system with consumption as its core,further reveals the limitations of the capitalist political system,adheres to Marx’s political position,and clearly puts forward the goal of restoring the political value of Marxism.Finally,Agger studies the ecological crisis from the perspective of consumption,points out that alienated consumption leads to the contradiction between social production and ecology,and then reveals the inevitability of the capitalist system in destroying the environment.It can be seen that Ager’s theory of alienated consumption is self-evidently reasonable and forward-looking.However,Agger’s view that the ecological crisis replaces the economic crisis is a misinterpretation of Marxism,and the way of dissolving alienation is full of utopian colors,which deviates from the basic principles of historical materialism.