“文化工业”与“消费主义”

20世纪初,资本与科技联姻,催生出一种以工业生产方式和复制技术制造文化产品的行业———“文化工业”,文化开始了它的自我异化进程。20世纪后半叶,科学技术、特别是电子和信息技术的迅猛发展,使这一进程大大加快,文化最终被资本所控制,成为其获取利润的重要工具。20世纪50—60年代以后,世界进入了“消费时代”,消费成了社会的最高利益和最终目的,人成了商品消费和无限膨胀的物欲追求的奴隶。事实上,每一种文明都包含两种基本组成部分,即物质性生产和精神性创造,“文化”便是超越物质性的思想性、精神性、艺术性的创造。当一种文明仅重视物质增长而忽视精神创造,甚至容忍精神性资源被物质欲望和需要所侵蚀,那么,这种文明将变得越来越粗俗,它的前途和命运也就值得忧虑了。

“消费主义”的兴起与现代化的发展

“消费主义”作为一种完全不同于传统消费的新消费模式和消费观念,是现代化发展的产物。“消费主义”的兴起和发展是资本主义扩大再生产和现代资本增值的需要;是现代化发展过程中社会成员追求平等心理的一种外在表现;是现代社会文化世俗化的结果。

“消费主义”思潮影响下大学生网络符号消费引导

大学生的网络符号消费存在着不良现象,由于网络符号消费反映一种消费文化,因此应当对大学生的网络符号消费现象,应该从文化视角进行研究,分析"消费主义"思潮对大学生产生的影响,并从大学生自身和外界消费环境两方面,对大学生群体的网络符号消费进行引导,坚决反对"消费主义"。

简·奥斯丁作品中现代消费主义的体现

通过分析英国女作家简·奥斯丁的作品及其人物特点,发现在英国工业革命背景下,随着商品的流通和物质财富的积累,当时的社会制度、社会经济、社会生活、社会道德以及人的价值观念对“消费主义”所产生的影响,以及这种“消费主义”对人们的观念和生活境况的制约。

审美“泛化”语境中当代审美价值观念的新动向

20世纪90年代以来,随着中国经济的发展,社会生活中出现“日常生活审美化”“审美日常生活化”等审美“泛化”现象。审美的“泛化”使当代审美价值观念在价值立场上走向平民化、大众化,在价值取向上走向世俗化。当代审美价值观念这种新动向具有肯定人的感性生命欲求,恢复人的感性与理性的平衡等积极意义,同时也带来诸如将美感等同于快感,为消费主义的盛行推波助澜等消极作用,需要我们客观辩证地加以分析与对待。

The Pursuit of Happiness in the French Novel of the 20th-21st Centuries

Happiness, as much a poetic as a philosophical, sociological, and psychological concept, has been, through the ages, at the heart of the needs each individual seeks to fulfil. But today, in a world dominated by technology, driven by productivity and dictated by efficiency, what about Happiness？ Does it feature in works of fiction in any significant way？ May it not have adopted different guises？ ls that ＂duty of happiness＂ that Pascal Bruckner was talking about present in the French novel of the 20th-21th centuries？ And if it is, has its force strengthened or weakened？ This article will discuss the French Novels （of the 20th-21th centuries） that are devoted to or associated with Happiness in a direct or indirect manner. It will contextualize and analyze the transformation of Happiness, within the context of the historical and social events that influenced that period： the Holocaust, consumerism, postmodernism, structural social changes, the various as yet unarticulated new modes of life they created, and so on. To that end, this article will explore the discursive philosophical concept of happiness and its influence on the formation of the French novel. In so doing it will focus on the explicit discourse behind the motifs, the choices made in the process of writing, and the attitudes taken, considering the theme of happiness. Doing so, a significant discussion will be included regarding the paths of happiness, its agents, and the nature of the motifs and metaphors linked to the theme of happiness. The author will also address the dialectical role of the happiness theme in the constitution of an emerging literary discourse reflected in the French novel. By exploring the manifestation of the dogmas, ideas of the intellectual leaders of the 20th century （e.g., Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir, Albert Camus） as well as the ones of the 21th century （e.g., Pascal Bruckner, Andr6 Comte-Sponville, Gilles Lipovetsky） new insights concerning the hybrid nature of the supposedly ＂authentic happiness＂ will be revealed. The author intend to inspect the theme of Happiness around four dialectical axes as a relevant ethical basis for delimiting the various fields of research： （1） Love, passion, and conjugality; （2） Ageing; （3） ＂The experience of everydayness＂; and （4） ＂The era of emptiness＂. Focusing on the narratives, the article takes into account their specificity in the four distinct fields, all connected to existential and ethical issues, Finally, this article will attempt to analyse the assumed role of literature as a conduit of cultural awareness.

Conflicting Emotions： Globalization and Decoloniality in Tambien la lluvia

It is not difficult to understand the success of Tambien la lluvia （2010） starring the internationally recognized Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The coproduction among France, Spain, and Mexico succeeds in creating film that gains critical as well as commercial attention for its treatment of the theme of globalization as well as for its aesthetic quality. The Spanish director, Icfar Boallafn heavily employs metacinematography, metanarrative, and intertextuality in the film but loses subtlety in conveying the message of globalization as a continuation of colonization. As the study of the aforementioned themes has been exhausted, this analysis focuses on the role and representation of the emotions that are shaped by the global economic circumstance of capitalism, consumerism, and globalization. I will analyze and compare the emotions of the western characters with that of the indigenous characters in Bolivia to demonstrate how the filmic representations of emotions are influenced by the understanding of history, culture, and society. This analysis attempts to reveal how the western subjects struggle to locate their emotions resulting in their displacement in representations of information and simulations of reality that have lost their connection with the original referent. On the other hand, the indigenous＇ emotional repertoire is based on their direct interaction with the land and their community. Furthermore, the first people appear to have inherited and cultivated their emotions as a community, which motivate them to act collectively to continue their incessant struggle against exploitation and colonization. Through this study, I hope to explore the relationship between the emotions and decoloniality by identifying how cultivation of emotions could have a major impact in questioning the Eurocentric episteme imposed onto the periphery.

The Consolidation of Youth Lifestyle in the 1960s： Swinging London Through The Drapers＇Record Magazine

This paper discusses how consumerism boosted youth lifestyle in the 1960s--mainly through modem magazines （particularly in Britain） and built a territorial symbolic identity through fashion. In the 1960s, the consolidation of youth culture becomes an international phenomenon. With the development of ready-to-wear, adolescents begin to be target as a consumer market. The music and fashion industries unite to create and advertise youth lifestyle. The fashion shifts from Paris to London. Magazine articles and publicity set the latest trends. The method applied is research in primary source--the British journal The Drapers＇ Record aiming to recognize fashion transformation and juvenilization in this period of time. The magazine shows ads and fashion editorials （mainly feminine）, articles and news about fashion trend. There is also a brands guide for shoppers and retailers. The magazines used in the research are from 1964 to 1967, July and August issues, when the fall-winter trends are shown. From 1964 on, we notice the orientation towards a juvenile market and style, but these trends will only fully materialize through 1967. It leads to the conclusion that between 1965 and 1967 fashion juvenilization developed, reached its peak and global range.

Hedonism and Adrenaline-Emotional Relation With Rafting

The success of each enterprise is finding, working on it, promoting, and obviously offering what the consumers really love and enjoy. Albania is very useful if you have this mission： Reconciling all the nature components with favorable weather conditions, we can really offer an adventure business, where everyone can discover the beauty of Albania through an unforgettable trip. The key word that summarizes all the elements mentioned is without a doubt “Rafting”. Introducing rafting both as a sport and as a touristic outdoor activity, in that way we develop a new touristic market and a strong promoter of sustainable adventure tourism in Albania. When a person takes pleasure but in an unhealthy extent, how does this affect his personality？ The adrenaline as happiness, meaning and pleasure…The topics that this study is about, are two key terms that will guarantee the success of this “adventure project”： The first is the satisfaction of consumers, which gives us a feedback about the product/service and the second part deals with the term adrenaline （pleasure supreme customer）; hedonic consumer features, part of their character, the main approaches and a study conducted with customers who have attended at least once rafting, customers attending characteristic of emotions, adrenaline, and adventure to take the pleasure of life. A company should always try and please its consumers. Usually, pleased consumers will always come back for more; they will also spread the word and bring new potential consumers into your business that will pay a fair amount of money for a new upcoming product that set company offers. The measurement of consumer satisfaction is a pure indicator of the consumers repurchases intentions, an indicator of the actual performance and differentiation from the current competition. The consumers mind will always remember the name of the company that they had a bad experience rather than the onethey have been satisfied with. Often when we receive a fixed service, our mind tends to create a very close emotional connection to set service. Often we find that the smallest things bring the greatest joy, regardless of the price. For the majority part, following the adrenaline passion is more than just a need. Lately, the traditional notion of purchasing is left behind and everyone is focusing on providing themselves with pleasure and emotions. The definition of the word “hedonic” comes from Ancient Greece, meaning “taking the maximal pleasure from life” being our primary goal.

Estonian Taxation System and Innovation

The economic crisis of the last three years, which has hit the world, especially the Baltic States together with their ultraliberal way of economy, has forced to look for solutions to overcome the depression. A low level of taxation, the policy of＂thin state policy＂ and a small share of public sector have influenced the macroeconomics of Estonia since its re-independence. The indirect taxes, especially the consumption taxes, are dominating in Estonian taxation system. The increase of tax burden a little more than 2% in 2009 through the increase of value added tax （VAT） and excises, and the pruning of income taxation benefits did not enlarge state budget in the same amount. The pruning of budget did not just decrease the internal market of the state very rapidly, but also decrease the incomes of the future periods, due to a big dominant of consumption taxes. The economic depression, which began in 2008, has demonstrated a week orientation of Estonian economy, threaten its taxation system on innovation. The amount of investments has essentially decreased than the decrease of GDP and state budget.

Analysis of Big Data＇s Impact on Social Consumption Values

1Since the middle of last century, the world has entered consumer society. Decided by consumerism, hedonic consumption has got popular. Hedonic consumption makes people be personalized during consumption and brings a high degree of prosperity in consumption. But at the same time, for the materialization logic in consumerism, people has been enslaved by substance and involved in the vicious circle about unlimited demand for substance, which brought a series of problems in consumption. Nowadays, sharing consumption is rapidly developing, which leads to the change of consumption values. The application of big data in the consumer area, through bringing ＂big data sense＂ and solving information barrier, is one of the most important reasons to cause the change. This change can help to establish a fair consumption environment and harmonious consumption relations, which will make the economic development faster and better

Liberals, Communitarians, Republicans and the Intervention of the State in the Private Sphere

The aim of this paper is to discuss whether the increasing intervention of the state in the private sphere-as is evidenced in labor laws, consumer rights, bioethics, and Internet crimes-is compatible with the liberal ideal of neutrality, or, on the contrary, whether it can be seen as a turning point towards the position of communitarian or republican authors, for whom the state must endorse a substantive good. Such a turning point could lead to a reformulation of the public and private spheres, and of course, raise questions over which values justify which kinds of intervention. This paper will cover these debates in three parts： First, by presenting briefly the history of the liberal conception of rights, I will try to show that, from a starting point based mostly on individual protection, the liberal tradition has become more interventionist, which can be seen through the notion of ＂claim rights.＂ Departing from John Rawls＇s work, I will argue that this notion allows for some level of intervention, without betraying liberal neutrality. Subsequently, I will discuss the difference between this kind of intervention and the ones proclaimed by communitarians and republicans authors： The former will be illustrated by Michael Sandel＇s criticism of Rawls in Liberalism and the Limits of Justice, and the later by Richard Dagger＇s position in Civic Virtues, Citizenship, and Republican Liberalism. Finally, in the third part, we＇ll discuss whether liberal principles can be harmonized with the republican and communitarian focus on civic virtues and good life.

Ethical Implications of Systems Methodology Applied to Industrial Ecology

The systemic view on industry and on production and consumption pattern is an essential feature of the industrial ecology （IE） concept. One consequence of this view is to investigate industrial flows and consumer activities, and their effects on the environment in order to evaluate and eventually optimize these flows with the help of a systems methodology. Industrial ecology has been developed by engineers and natural scientists and its ethical core canon often manifests in anthropocentric assertions such as harmonizing the contradiction between nature and culture with scientific expertise, appropriate technology and socio-economic management. This paper argues however for a biocentric inspired, normative reading of some characteristics of industrial ecology＇s systems methodology. The presumption for the value of this endeavor is that industrial ecology＇s systems methodology has a potential for developing directions for the design of a possible sustainable world.

“老上海”的前世今生——时尚文化与精英叙事的“怀旧”形态

20世纪90年代以降的"老上海"时尚怀旧文化热潮﹐影响延续当下。其消费文化的实质﹐投射出以"复制"方式所表达的历史的"匮缺"感。"商业性"为内核的选择性记忆﹐亦标识其与《长恨歌》等书写上海的严肃文学作品所蕴涵"怀旧"元素的分野。王安忆等作家所建构的小说文本所呈现出的时间—历史与空间—城市交互指涉的关系,构成了潜在的知识分子话语对于"消费主义"空间观及其相联系的资本营运方式的的反拨。而"新天地"等新兴都市空间的出现,则将以上对抗实体化。旧城空间的衰落﹐大量资本的注入及在改造过程中对"高尚阶层"的吸引策略,构成复杂的政治、经济、文化等因素交互作用的资本营运过程。其进一步表现出商业性"怀旧"与生俱来的"缙绅化"倾向对历史空间"在地化"的席卷与解构。

The Little Match Girl in a Doll＇s World! Hans Christian Andersen and Jean Renoir

Remediation into film of the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen＇s many fairytales often accentuate his quaint or sentimental tendencies. In a silent film adaptation of ＂The Little Match Girl＂ the French filmmaker Jean Renoir transports us into an avant-garde world of consumerism and commodification that seems at odds with Andersen＇s original vision. Yet Renoir＇s film is remarkably resonant with Andersen＇s own pre-cinematic imagination even as it produces a different inflection of the uncanny. The match girl is turned into a femme enfant fatale and her illu- minated visions are redirected away from the comforts of home to a world of artifice and melodrama.

Seeking Pleasure and Health： Space, Consumption and Two Motherhoods in Post-Mao China

This paper demonstrates the experiences of dealing with unhappiness when doing prenatal medical check ups and of seeking pleasure through prenatal shopping among two generation mothers, the younger expectant mother and their older mothers. It argues that the conflicts between them arise from the state intentions of marginalizing and eliminating the socialist past embedded in the older generation mothers. Locating these contrasts into historical specificies, it illustrates that the distinctions imposed by the state to grouping and categorizing its national subjects are in fact discursively produced through people＇s everyday life by evoking both their desires and fears. It further suggests that as subjected bodies, no matter how unevenly they were, they all subvert the authorities in one way or another.