On the Ideology of Consumer Sovereignty and the Production of Needs.

ABSTRACT. Consumer sovereignty is the normative corner stone of
neo-classical economics and liberalism. It is argued that the ability to
choose, free from all external constraints, fulfills each individual’s
nature as a being of utility. In this paper, utilizing Marx’s analysis of
the deep structures of capitalist production, I shall unmask the apology for
the capitalist system underwriting consumer sovereignty and argue that
advertising is not simply a vehicle for communicating information to the
sovereign consumer to better aid her in evaluating her selection of
commodities. Moreover, and with this critical framework combining abstract
economic analysis with cultural theory, capitalistically produced needs can
be translated into critical needs which point beyond the capitalist horizon.

(I should express that this is not an essay based in economic theory but
tries to combined both economics and cultural theory. I am not sure if this
comes out in the abstract and I hope that this conference would provide
space for constructive dialogue between those doing critical political
economy and those engaged in cultural theory).

Dennis Badeen (graduate student)
Social and Political Thought, York University,
Toronto, Canada.