Consumer Culture

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Consumer Culture

Re-imagining Economic Obedience: Lessons from Wendell Berry
Several scholars and members of Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, recently explored and contemplated consumerism, along with its potenial dangers and blessings, in the May 2003 issue of Voices, the parish journal. Ken Myers also contributed an article to this issue (titled "Consumerism: Wherever Your Treasure Is, There too Will Be Your Heart"). His article, which introduces writer Wendell Berry's thoughts on the God-given order of Creation and what that order means for human housekeeping, is available here.

Consumer Culture
A sampling of sources . . .

Norman Wirzba, on how attentiveness to our eating and our care of the land are central aspects of culture and of godly faith (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Jan./Feb. 2012) MHT-113.2.1

Craig Bartholomew, on carelessness concerning embodied experience and our "crisis of place" (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Jan./Feb. 2012) MHT-113.2.2

Richard Lints, on a distinctively theological approach to understanding human identity (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Nov./Dec. 2006) MHT-83.1.3

Eugene McCarraher, on how American management theory became an influential source of religious meaning and practice (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Jan./Feb. 2006) MHT-78.2.2

Sam Van Eman, on the view of the good life advanced by advertising (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Jan./Feb. 2006) MHT-78.1.3

Vincent Miller, on how the commodification of everything affects our sense of religious faith and practice (and on how we can resist) (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, July/Aug. 2004) MHT-69.2.2

Murray Milner, Jr., from the bonus track of the CD edition, on how the choices of parents create the institutional framework for the lives of adolescents (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, May/June 2004) MHT-68.2.4

Murray Milner, Jr., on American teenagers, schools, and the culture of consumption (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, May/June 2004) MHT-68.1.1

Alissa Quart, on Branded: the Buying and Selling of Teenagers (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, May/June 2003) MHT-62.1.3

Gordon Preece, on the underlying assumption of Peter Singer's ethical ideas (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Sept./Oct. 2002) MHT-58.1.3

Michael Budde & Robert Brimlow, Christianity Incorporated, on why Christianity should seem strange (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, July/Aug. 2002) MHT-57.2.3

David Lyon, on the reconfiguration of religion against the backdrop of communication technologies and consumerism (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Mar./Apr. 2001) MHT-49.1.1

Gary Cross, on An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Jan./Feb. 2001) MHT-48.1.2

Lendol Calder, on the cultural significance of consumer credit (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, March/April 2000) MHT-43.1.2

Albert Borgmann, on how technology disengages us from experiencing reality (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Sept./Oct. 1999) MHT-40.2.2

Leigh Eric Schmidt, on how the marketplace has shaped American celebration of the holidays (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, Nov./Dec. 1995) MHT-18.1.1

Mark Crispin Miller, on the dehumanized feeling so common in modern advertising (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, May/June 1995) MHT-15.2.2

Amy Waldman, on the ersatz community of TV shopping networks (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, May/June 1995) MHT-15.2.1

Quentin Schultze, on Pat Robertson's plans to begin a 24-hour game show TV channel (MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, August 1992) MHT-1.2.1