What artificially holds together a society that is founded on mistrust? One answer is mass consumption. For a time, the shopping mall was the church at the heart of the global village. My article published in the journal »Theory and Practice in Social Studies«.
In this social and cultural analysis, consumerism is interpreted not only as an objective of modernisation but also as an artificial mechanism for stabilising modern societies characterised by social inequality, status competition, and weak forms of democracy. Since the globalisation of the Western model of development has led to a permanent war among human beings as well as against nature, a way out cannot lie in defending this model, but rather in its sustainable transformation. Alongside cultural change, social relations and democracy must be placed on new foundations, building bridges instead of walls. The full article is available here
Bild: © Dr. Davide Brocchi – Köln, 2026
