In the Red- Geremie Barme

by kjamison

My question for consumerism in China is this:
Is the Party just taking advantage of the consumer culture to fuse their political ideas with or did the consumer culture come out of the changes of the reform period, thus making consumer culture in China and political agenda a package from the beginning? Are they one in the same?

With the invented phrases such as “political pop” (p.246) “politico-tainment” and “partimericals” (p.244) it seems party propaganda is ingrained in much of Chinese society.
Consumerism seems to serve two purposes, intentionally or not, it is seen by some as one of the only avenues of individualism and empowerment in a country of censorship while simultaneously serving as an avenue for the Party to gets its ideas of morals and ethics, etc. out to the people.
The article seems to be saying everyone wants to be a consumer in China, that is what people strive for, having the ability to buy what you want and buy the best available. That is how people can express themselves, show their status and their individualism through what they buy. Yet, as they shop it seems everywhere they turn there is most likely something calling out to the consumer regarding life in China. It seems that as China is changing and growing economically it is not going to let its people forget how they got there and it seems they will use whatever avenues they need to to get there.