Andy et al,
What do you mean by "contextualizing consumerist propaganda,"
specifically? Contextualizing it against what? Other forms of
propaganda?
Also, with regard to the comparative analysis, I'm sure the study you
described -- between consumption levels in nations and their levels of
media saturation -- has been done as well. But such a study would have
to deal with a potentially unbearable load of confounding variables
derived from other differences (economic, political, cultural) between
those countries. At any rate, I'm in anthropology, so my interest is
more at the local level; comparative analysis, if done at all, would
probably between one village with a satellite dish and another without
one. The idea being not so much a quantifiable study, but one which
examines how the media achieves its hegemonic goals, particularly in
areas which have virtually no previous contact with the West. How are
traditions incompatible with consumerism undermined? I guess part of the
question would be: Is the consumerist 'instinct' for more and more goods
and services innate, requiring only the opportunity to be released, or
must it be cultivated? In other words -- is there any hope?
Gareth Barkin
Dept of Anthropology
Box 1114, Washington University
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
314/935-5680, FAX -8535