Chapter 15

Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical

Approach

Wolff-Michael Roth

Das Bewußtsein kann nie etwas Andres sein als das bewußte Sein, und das Sein der
Menschen ist ihr wirklicher Lebensprozeß [Consciousness can never be something else
than conscious Being, and the Being of men is their real life process]. (Marx and Engels
1978, p. 26)

Consumerism, the increasing acquisition and use of consumer goods and associ-
ated ideology, frequently is considered a societal problem. It particularly is consid-
ered to be a problem of young people, for it leads, as some studies suggest, to a
situation where “the structure of childhood is eroding and children are suffering
from serious physical, emotional and social deficits directly related to consumer-
ism” (Hill 2011, p. 347). That is, the social environment is held responsible for the
developmental deficits of the children. Such studies, however, generally do not take
into account the active role of young people in those relations where they first live
the apparent unconstrained creation of supplemental needs and their satisfaction
through the purchase of goods. These needs do not come from the outside, as if in
a transfusion; but they do not come from the inside either, as if they were the mere
result of individual constructions. In considering the issue of youth consumerism,
the introductory quotation is simple but denotes the far–reaching consequences for
life generally and for the question of dealing with youth (ethical) consumerism
specifically. It tells us that being conscious about consumption and consumerism is
the result of conscious being, including being a consumer. That consciousness does
not precede being a consumer but being a consumer precedes the consciousness:
ideas arise from and as a consequence of material praxis rather than creating and
explaining it. That praxis always is praxis with other in a common world. We can-
not teach and teach about (ethical) consumerism unless students first are (ethical)
consumers. As Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels state, the Being1 of humans is their
real life process; and it is participation in this real life process that precedes any

 If used as a noun, Being is capitalized; otherwise it is used in the verb form.
1

W.-M. Roth (*)

University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
e-mail: mroth@uvic.ca

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 237

G. Reis et al. (eds.), Sociocultural Perspectives on Youth Ethical Consumerism,
Cultural Studies of Science Education 16, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65608-3_15
238 W.-M. Roth

consciousness thereof (or the “knowledge” is empty). Consciousness can only fol-
low an event of having undergone what consciousness is about. Being shows itself
in the coming of consciousness (beings), in its revealing arrival in the clearing
(Heidegger 2006). Being precedes beings, which include the words and construc-
tions that are used to point to and talk about Being. In other words, we can grasp
Being (e.g. event) only when it is already completed; our grasp, our consciousness
of what has happened, always is too late. Taking the relation of Being and con-
sciousness (of human beings and their relations, and conditions) differently literally
means places the relation in the head and on its head (Marx and Engels 1978). But
even a (constructivist) view is a “necessary sublimate of [men’s] material, empiri-
cally demonstrable life process connected to material conditions” (p.  26). The
authors thus note that it is life that determines consciousness rather than the other
way around. In the view to be rejected, consciousness is the primary phenomenon
from which learning, identity, ethics, and so forth follow; in the second view, real
life and real living individuals are at the beginning, and consciousness is only their
consciousness (being conscious).
This brief analysis is going to fly into the face of constructivist readers, who will
claim that humans “construct” their being, and that there is always something like a
psychological construct (a conception) that shapes our relation to the world. We
cannot think about teaching students to be (ethical) consumers, let them “construct
some identity as consumers” or “construct their reasons for consuming” and then
send them out into the world thinking that they will be ethical consumers. The theo-
retical seeds for a psychology based on Marx and Engel’s insights have already
been sown. This cultural–historical, social psychology recognizes that “any higher
psychological function… was a human relation first” (Vygotsky 1989, p. 56) and
that personality is the ensemble of societal relations. Indeed, those psychological
functions “are internalized relations of a social order, transferred to the individual
personality, the basis of the social structure of the personality” (p.  58). Reading
Marx and Engels (1978), Vygotsky realized that “the real intellectual richness of the
individual totally depends on the richness of its real relations” (p. 37); and he real-
ized that “individuals indeed make each other, physically and mentally, but do not
make themselves” (p. 37).
The term consumerism is employed in different ways, denoting (a) advocacy and
rights of consumers or (b) a doctrine of or preoccupation with increased consump-
tion of goods. In other situations, such as in combination with the modifier “ethical,”
as in “ethical consumerism” or “ethical consumption,” the term is used positively to
refer to different forms of consumer activisms for one or another cause (poverty,
environment, health, or economy). Whereas constructivist studies suggest that con-
sumerist behaviors can be changed through instruction, cultural–historical approaches
emphasize the existence of any characteristically human behavior in the concrete
relations with others the ensemble of which make human society. Sociological theo-
ries often are deterministic, where responsible consumers are created by governance
regimes. Constructivist epistemologies theorize development in terms of the social-
ization of the individual. Cultural–historical approaches on the other hand emphasize
the individualization of the social. The result is that whatever we observe as behav-
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 239

iors, psychological functions, and forms of personality among youths have been
forms of human relations now attributed to the individual (Vygotsky 1989). Those
relations are specific to the particular productive activity, one of which indeed is
consumption (Marx and Engels 1983). If there are problems with consumerism
among youths, then school may not be the solution because it is part of the problem
(Roth 2015). On the other hand, schools may be part of the solution if they (a) foster
(critical) consciousness and action (conscientização) and (b) do so by creating
opportunities for those societal relations that do indeed constitute the first instances
where individuals actually live critical consciousness. From a cultural historical per-
spective, such critical consciousness leads to freedom from oppression.
In this chapter—using (a) empirical materials from interviews with 15–year olds
about environmental protection and from two–day pleasure–oriented school trips
with the same students and (b) auto/ethnographic materials—I develop a cultural–
historical approach to the phenomenon of consumerism that affords understanding
why youth consumerism is a mirror of consumerism at large. As consumption is the
converse of production, consumerism is the converse of the ideology of every–
increasing growth of the economy on which current conceptions of the world are
based. From this theoretical basis, very different conclusions are drawn for what
may be done in the contexts of schooling to curb any excessive orientation to the
satisfaction and creation of ever–increasing consumption.

15.1  Non–Consumerist Lives: Auto/Ethnographic Accounts

In the discussions of consumption and consumerism, whether the terms are taken
negatively or positively, the discourse itself remains unchallenged. Thus, whereas it
has long been known that unequal distribution of wealth is the result of division of
labor and the market forces associated with the exchange of goods and labor (Marx
and Engels 1978), the discussion concerning the role of the poor is again framed in
terms of their consumption (Giesler and Veresiu 2014). Thus, the United Nations
Development Programme “aims to empower and enable the poor and disadvantaged
to benefit from full participation in markets as consumers, producers and wage earn-
ers” (United Nations 2009, p. 4). It is as if one and a half centuries have passed
without any impact of the critical analysis of market forces. Therefore, the contra-
dictions in society arise from the division of labor and the resulting division into
different spheres of activity, including consumption. As a result, production forces,
societal conditions, and consciousness are and have to be in contradiction (Marx
and Engels 1978). This is so because the division of labor leads to the distribution
of intellectual and material activity, enjoyment and labor, production and consump-
tion, fall to different people. It is only when the division of labor is abandoned that
those contradictions are removed—an experience those make who “live off the
grid” and meet their needs through their own labor. I know from personal experi-
ence that life becomes different when we begin living on the food from our own
backyards or (rented) plots in communal gardens.
240 W.-M. Roth

In the following, I provide two examples of ways of life that are not consumer-
ist—either because of the conditions or because of choice. The first example is from
my own biography, leading from poverty to chosen frugality; the other example is
constituted from observations I made during a recent trip to Vietnam. Both exam-
ples depict situations in which consumerist attitudes and behaviors are absent. They
are used as a counterpoint to the account of environment and consumption observed
among Swiss youths, which are a reflection of that society.

15.1.1  Frugality: From Condition to Choice

I grew up in poverty. Each year, I might have had two new shirts, and these were
(part of) my birthday and Christmas presents. What were my leather shorts for
2 years would be those of my brother for the two subsequent years. My mother was
adding buttons to my sweaters, allowing the collars from my father’s decommis-
sioned shirts to be attached so it looked like I was wearing shirts. Meat was too
expensive. We lived of fruits and vegetables from the garden, and purchased at-cost
milk and other products from local farmers. My parents never spent what they did
not have, so if there was no money, then nothing was to be had. Our basic needs
were met, and anything else was taken like icing on the cake. Perhaps more impor-
tantly, as children we were not really aware of the poverty as such; we never felt
there was something missing that we had to have. I was not really aware even though
already at the age of nine and ten I was working on farms for a dinner with home-
made rye bread, plenty of sausage, and apple cider. I worked for food because the
farmers would not have had money to pay. We did not complain. In fact, nobody in
the village seemed to be complaining, even though in most homes there was no
indoor plumbing, and thus no baths or toilets (outhouses literally were houses out-
side the house). There were no tractors. Everything was done by means of oxen,
pulling plows or carts with steel–rimmed wooden wheels. In the late fall, there was
a week of school vacations—which was not really a holiday in the present–day
sense because the students went into the fields with their parents to harvest potatoes
(thus the nick name “potato holidays”).
Although living in what I now know to have been poverty constituted a constraint
in some sense, it also meant a lot of freedom because we did not become slaves to
artificially created needs. Our basic needs (food, clothing, roof) were met; and
because we only spent money that we actually had, there were no additional needs
that we could have met. As my parents only spent the money they actually had, they
did not have loans to pay off. Later, in our lives none of my parents’ four children
fell prey to consumerism. We stuck to buying what we needed, and if we did not
have the means then we did not have the need either.
Today I continue leading a frugal life. Like most of my siblings, we have
adopted a vegetarian lifestyle—to a great extent because of its contribution to sus-
tainability. On my small suburban lot in a working class neighborhood, I organi-
cally grow all the vegetables and herbs my wife and I consume, and most of the
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 241

fruit as well. In the wintertime, there are therefore winter vegetables on the table
(crops from the brassica family, leek, Jerusalem artichoke, radicchio, etc.); and a
few things we blanch, if necessary, and freeze (green beans, broad beans, tomatoes).
Doing so has taught us a lot about how much of out–of–season fruit and vegetables
are imported. Some things I dry or season, and these things keep this way in the
basement for the winter months (Squash, garlic, onions). We freeze many berries
(blueberry, raspberry, blackberry), figs, and fruit or make sauces (apple, quince). I
keep bees, and on and off I keep chicken for the eggs. Some of the honey and eggs
we sell, covering associated costs (e.g. equipment, organic food supplements for the
chicken). I see this as a power over my needs (our relation in family), and, therefore,
my power as a citizen in a world where consumption has become outrageous—
especially visible in the over–consumption of food in the industrialized world (cf.
overweight and obesity rates), where in addition a lot of the food is thrown away
while millions are starving. We do not spent money for all the trucking, shipping,
and airfreighting to get those things that we have during some parts of the year at
times when they are not seasonal. Instead, we relish the times we have those vege-
tables, and are looking forward to the following year when we can eat them again
(e.g. asparagus, artichokes). Even the most colorful of displays of strawberries in
our local and organic supermarkets cannot make us buy the fruit when it is wintery
outside just because the sight of them is supposed to generate the need. I abandoned
using a car in 2008, after having consumed no more than two tanks full of gas
per annum during the three preceding years. I now do virtually everything with my
bicycles (e.g. doing the annual haul of the garbage can, getting gardening supplies,
or riding to university).

15.1.2  Frugality and Resilience: Observations in Vietnam

During a recent visit to Asia, I was reminded about my early years growing up in a
village of postwar Germany; and I was seeing personally that my own life is not
extraordinary at all and that there are many people (in other countries) producing
enough for their dietary needs. In 2010, my wife and I went to Vietnam for about
3 weeks. The tour operator is a French–Vietnamese company that practices eco–,
responsible, sustainable, and solidary tourism, for example, by actively involving
local villagers. During the entire 20–day stay in Vietnam, very little time was spent
in cities, allowing us to see and live with local people. One word impressed itself in
my mind, returning over and over again: resilience. On our trip we repeatedly dis-
cussed the fact that this people, apparently living contently a simple life, staved off
the horrendous attacks of the American army during the Vietnam War. In the vil-
lages, the houses have one or two rooms (Figs. 15.1 and 15.2). During the day, the
bedding materials and blankets were rolled up and put away thereby making space
for seating. Food was prepared outside or in a lean–on; there is no indoor plumbing.
In one village where we stayed, the only toilet and very simple shower facility was
installed by the family where we lived so the owner was able to receive tourists—it
242 W.-M. Roth

Fig. 15.1  Scenes from Vietnam 1 (clockwise from top right). A Muong village. A Muong elder
cutting up some firewood. Housing along (in) the Mekong. Children playing in a market place in
Hoi An

Fig. 15.2  Scenes from Vietnam 2 (clockwise from top right). Subsistence fishing in the Mekong.
A Muong woman collects plants for dinner. Selling surplus vegetables in the local market. Muong
children at play
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 243

was a condition on the part of the tour operator (Fig. 15.1). There was a fireplace in
the house, with a sand basin to prevent the wooden house to catch fire; dried wood
from the forest, or surplus wood from crates or buildings are cut up (Fig. 15.1) and
used to heat the pots. Just below the village, there were rice fields. Around the
houses, vegetables were grown. In another small town, we were invited to a wed-
ding. There was nothing fancy, no splashing of money and gifts. There was no
show–off of designer clothing, just everyday jeans, shirts, and blouses. But there
was plenty of food, drinks, and happiness.
Surrounding the houses and in ditches, food grew wild or was grown (Fig. 15.2).
Whatever families harvested over and above what they needed for themselves was
sold at local markets. The stalls in the market place were not fancy. Instead, the
vegetables were simply spread on the ground or on a piece of heavy canvas
(Fig. 15.2). On the Mekong River, we saw men up to their chins in the water, either
tending to small fishing nets or harvesting plants; others were fishing for sustenance
from the boats below their shacks built on stilts (Fig.  15.2). We were astonished
seeing them do so despite the fact that garbage and feces were dumped into the river
from the houses along its banks.
The children and young people we saw did not appear to be unhappy in any way.
They organized their play with what they had: their “toys” could be as simple as a
few bricks on a low wall, a few leaves, and a milk container (Fig.  15.2). Others
played around the market stalls where their parents were selling goods (Fig. 15.1).
Older children, young adults still going to school, participated in the same activities
as the older family members, which might be collecting food or participating in the
fashioning of wood for making of matches.

15.1.3  Analytic Reflections

In the preceding two subsections, sketches were provided of frugal ways of life.
Leading such lives may be the result of existing conditions, such as poverty, or
choice. My childhood was marked by poverty, though at the time I did not realize it
as such. Indeed, as a child I felt that ours was the best family because our parents
cared in ways that other parents did not appear to do. We even got to travel with our
parents, on a shoestring  budget without question, whereas our more–well–to–do
cousins did not. In my own upbringing, the hardships for my parents were also my
hardships, their relation to consumer goods were my relations as well; and our
reflection to each other reflected the relation with the world of goods. I am sure that
the frugality and resilience that characterized my early life is of the same kind that
I observed in Vietnam; both are the results of the cultural–historical situation of the
country and its society–which, in the case of Vietnam, included Soviet–style com-
munism and the decades–lasting wars with the colonial powers (France) and the
U.S. invaders that succeeded them. In this example, the lives of the adults reflect
themselves in the lives of the children, and the lives of the children are reflected in
the lives of adults.
244 W.-M. Roth

I made similar observations while living in a small fishing village, where most
inhabitants lived from small–scale commercial fishery (using small 27–ft boats) and
the subsistence fishing and hunting for the remainder of the year. Having been
adopted into one of the families, I know they did not complain. Indeed, those who
left the village to make money generally returned for a harsher life nevertheless
marked by freedom. The Vietnamese I saw, my own family, and the fishing villag-
ers, though living with little, still had more than those starving millions living in
different parts of the world. The materials from my current life show that it is pos-
sible to choose living a non–consumerist life marked by happiness and freedom.
It is easy to show that consumerist life and wealth comes at the cost of others;
and the costs of environmental degradation that arise with wealth tend to be borne
by those who also are exploited economically. Every cheap garlic bulb from China,
every bargain meal of shrimp from South–East Asia, and every low–priced cotton
t–shirt from Bangladesh entails economic exploitation and environmental degrada-
tion. Moreover, purchasing cheap goods produced by exploiting the poor in foreign
countries also comes at costs to local economies. There is little recognition on the
part of those complaining about the loss of local jobs that their own bargain hunting
contributes to this loss. Every Chinese garlic bulb purchased in the local (super–)
market means one garlic bulb less from a local farmer. On a grander scale, this
means a loss of producers no longer able to make a living. But those selling the
Chinese garlic still earn. A differentiation into haves and have–nots ensues. Such
local differentiation into haves and have–nots indeed reproduces the global differ-
entiation into countries that have (industrialized societies) and those that have not
(“Third World” societies). Marx and Engels (1978) note that the contradictions of
an inequitable society can be removed only if the division of labor is sublated,
because this also removes the inequitable accumulation of goods and riches. They
also write about the estrangement that occurs when producers are separated from
what they produce. That estrangement can be observed in society today, when many
people do not know where the food they eat comes from, and when, consistent with
the consumption logic, everything is (available) whenever someone feels the need
rather than when it actually grows in the surrounding fields. For those who practice
urban permaculture, this food–related estrangement is overcome, and a very differ-
ent relationship to food develops. This food literally is in our hands, from the sow-
ing of the seed, to tending (weeding, watering), to harvesting, and to the ultimate
transformation into meals. It is and remains in our hands, which thereby constitutes
liberation from the market forces.
Some scholars are suggesting that young people “are receiving an endless bar-
rage of material messages encouraging purchasing behavior and consumption that
impacts the self–image” (Hill 2011, p. 347). But simple explanatory mechanisms
are not going to do the trick. Even though my siblings and I were living in a society
where others were well off, this did not impact our self–image or make us become
or desire consumption–oriented adults. Instead, as grown–ups with considerably
more financial resources at our hands we chose to live frugal lives. I have seen the
people from the fishing village, who chose the frugal life over a more consumption–
driven one that a continuation of their work in the oil fields of Alberta would have
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 245

allowed them. Marx and Engels (1978) definitely were correct in their realization
that (a) we are not simply subject and subjected to conditions but also agential sub-
jects who produce their conditions and (b) consciousness is the result of conscious
Being. We made the conscious decision to live frugal lives: the fishermen who had
worked in the oil fields and returned to a frugal life in an isolated village and I. They
as I refuse to individualize consumerist needs, which would require them to work
(more) to meet these needs; now, because they do not have and feel theses needs,
they do not have to work to satisfy them. We thereby create the conditions for lead-
ing happy lives because we are not subject to consumerism (which entails more
work to meet the needs), though we continue to consume to meet basic needs.

15.2  C
 onsumption and Environmental Protection in the Talk
and Praxis of Swiss Youths

In this section, I provide accounts of (a) the Swiss curriculum for students in seventh
through ninth grade, (b) students’ declared commitments to the environment, (c)
students’ talk about environment (environmental protection) and consumption of
ninth–grade students as evidenced in their science lessons and individual inter-
views, and (d) observations of these students while on two–day school trips designed
for their enjoyment and general educational value (“Bildung”). The text of the cur-
riculum document is taken as the manifestation of a discourse typical for the educa-
tional circles responsible for education. Students’ discourse (topic, resources) and
their actions together are taken here as constituting the phenomenon of consumer-
ism, that is, an ideology together with the practical actions.

15.2.1  The Science Curriculum

The Swiss curriculum recognizes that the environment has to be a central aspect of
school science in addition to the traditional concerns for scientific reasoning and the
human relation to nature (IEDK 1997). In the face of recent natural and technologi-
cal developments, discussions about the environment are increasingly important,
including the contradictory role that the techno–sciences play in contributing to
environmental problems (e.g. pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified organ-
isms, nuclear energy, and industrial pollution). The curriculum must not leave out
those questions that concern science and the environment. More specifically, the
curriculum recognizes that students have to ask themselves about the responsibility
the current generation has for designing the future of society, environment, and their
relation. It is designed to “provide youths with help to find their own viewpoint in
the field of contradictory opinions” (p. 3, emphasis added). Thus, the curriculum
offers integrated units in addition to the more traditional subject–specific and is
246 W.-M. Roth

intended to provide students with some foundational knowledge and skills for the
purpose of engaging with questions arising from their mundane lives, the environ-
ment, and society. It thereby aims to foster the consciousness for responsibly acting
in the environment and coping with everyday life situations in addition to the tradi-
tional focus on the development of the capacity to reasoning scientifically.
Concerning the ability to act responsibly, the curriculum document states the fol-
lowing six goals:
The students gain insights into the environment and connections therein; construct a per-
sonal orientation to deal sensibly with nature; grabble with local, national and global envi-
ronmental problems; are ready to work actively toward the preservation of natural spaces
and responsible design of the environment; consume by protecting the environment and live
in an environmentally friendly manner; [and] show consideration for nature in their sport
and leisure activities. (IEDK 1997, p. 4)

From seventh grade onward, integrated curriculum units focus on an understanding

of the environment, which students are to gain by investigating real ecosystems in
their neighborhood. Students also study the impact human–produced changes are
having, such as the role of changes in the course of streams, water pollution, refor-
estation, monocultures, municipal dumpsites, or clear cutting for roads and ski
slopes. They learn the importance of water to human and natural life; and they
investigate the interconnected cause–effect relations of at least one real ecosystem.
For instance, there is a unit in ninth grade that is concerned with communication,
designed for students to learn explaining, understanding, and coping with the natu-
ral and technical environments that surround them.

15.2.2  Y
 ouths’ Declared Environmental Commitments
and Conditions

As part of a teacher education program for the middle grades (Secondary I, 15–
years of age), preservice teachers enrolled in a teachers’ college in central
Switzerland conducted a survey in 47 classes of teachers hosting the preservice
teachers during their practicum. Through these surveys, they were to gain an under-
standing of the students’ discourses about the environment and environmental pro-
tection. The results showed an overwhelming commitment to the environment
(Zeyer and Roth 2009). More than 90% were committed to the environment, 80%
regularly thought about the topic, and 62% declared to be very knowledgeable about
environmental issues. With respect to actions, one half of the students suggested
that the environment was an important part of their curriculum; one third and two–
fifths of the students indicated applying environmental knowledge in their school
and home lives, respectively.
The students’ responses were consistent with other declarations in favor of the
environment. The teachers emphasized their commitment to the science curriculum
and its emphasis on environmental issues. Moreover, most teachers thought about
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 247

themselves as role models with respect to environmental protection. The school

culture also appeared to be geared toward environmental issues, including the envi-
ronmental design surrounding (hedges for creating protection, ponds) and inside the
schools (light and climate management).

15.2.3  Youths’ Talk About Environment and Consumption

The compiled results from the surveys were taken into three of the 47 participating
classes, two of which had decidedly more, the third decidedly less pro–environmen-
tal inclinations than the average of all classes. In each of the three classes, its results
were shown together with the results of the study as a whole. Students were invited
to participate in whole–class discussions, in which they were enabled to present and
justify their viewpoints. Each one of these 45–minute discussions was videotaped.
In addition, 12 students and the three teachers were interviewed individually using
a semi–structured protocol. The research originally was designed to identify the
viewpoints of students; but I suggested instead focusing on the discourse generally
and on the interpretive repertoires more specifically. The advantage of this approach
over others is that the research is less concerned with questions of veracity and
individual knowledge and more with the unquestioned discursive resources that are
mobilized in defense of one or another commitment. As my own previous work had
suggested, the same discursive repertoires were used in support of opposing points
of view—e.g. constructivist versus realist conceptions of the nature of scientific
knowledge (Roth and Lucas 1997). Thus, for example, when students refer to Albert
Einstein or Max Planck to justify a point of view, then they draw on the authoritative
repertoire; on the other hand, when they support a claim by making reference to
religion or some deity, then they draw on the religious repertoire.
In the analysis of the classroom talk and interviews, we identified two discursive
repertoires each of which had two parts: the commonsense (folk science, folk psy-
chology) and agential (pragmatist, control) repertoires (Zeyer and Roth 2009).
These repertoires provided the students with resources for supporting claims related
to ten positions that turned out to be constitutive of a post–ecological discourse
characteristic of modern Swiss society (Zeyer and Roth 2013). These positions
included (a) a conservative acceptance of the environmental crisis; (b) a decentering
from a individualistic to a systemic, innovation– and change–oriented perspective;
(c) consumption–oriented identity formation; (d) a loss of power through participa-
tion in a market–driven development of society; (e) a diminished emphasis on envi-
ronment relative to employment, economic growth, and personal security; (f) an
increasing role of experts and institutions; (g) constitution of environmental prob-
lems as science, society, and management issues; (h) a demise of positive visions of
the future; (i) the rejection of ecological ideals; and (j) viewing eco–activisms as
forms of terrorism. That is, both the themes and the discursive resources for consti-
tuting them were not merely specific to society or youths. Instead, the youths’ dis-
course was a reflection and reproduction of societal discourse. Even though my
248 W.-M. Roth

colleague had started his research with the idea that there is something particular
about the ideas that youths construct for themselves, our research actually showed
(unsurprisingly for the cultural–historical analyst) that the discursive resources
were indeed mirroring those of society as a whole: the discourses of youths are
microcosms of the discourses within the society at large (Roth 2013). The locus of
the two, in the different studies I conducted particularly in the context of Swiss
society, occurs in the relations between youths and their teachers and between
youths and the researcher. In both types of cases, the language used by one, because
of its use is designed for recipients, inherently is intelligible to the other. The talk
belongs to all parties in the exchanges.
Something assumed to be known by every reasonable person belongs to common
sense. Indeed, it is unreasonable to question something that is common sense. Any
related discourse thus belongs to the commonsense repertoire. Sometimes the rep-
ertoire concerns commonsense knowledge about humans and psychological charac-
teristics (folk psychology); and at other times, it concerns commonsense
understandings and models of the world (folk science). One of the folk models
pertains to the simple machine, where each form of input (cause) brings about a
specific kind of output (effect). For example, weather might be talked about as if it
were a machine. Thus, talk about climate change might include statements such as:
“When the weather is so extreme, it shows you a bit about what one should have
done, and what one should still do… Take floods, for example. I think that if we had
done things differently, would there be the same results?” The talk builds on the folk
science repertoire, in which simple cause–effect relations bring about the climate
changes. The folk psychological repertoire includes, among others, commonsense
(stereotypical) differences between different groups, such as men and women. For
example, a claim that women are more pro–environment and exhibit more pro–envi-
ronmental behavior might draw on discourse from the folk psychological repertoire
for support: “Men always have other things on their minds. Men also like cars. They
are more playful. Women, at least most of them, want to have a home and children.
So they are restricted in some ways.”
The agential repertoire includes talk involving the human capacity to act, which
allows them to change the world, on the one hand, but which may be limited by
outside forces, on the other hand. The pragmatist aspect of the repertoire includes
all those forms of talk juxtaposing actions taken in an ideal world with those that
make more sense in the real world. In the context of talk about consumption, it may
be effectively deployed for making the case for the continued use of cars: “For sure
we destroy our world with our consumerism: by driving cars and so on. But it is
necessary because otherwise there would be no more work. If we didn’t drive cars,
then there would be problems with jobs.” Everyone needs clothing; and when it gets
old or used, it has to be replaced. A similar case may be made for utility vehicles,
such as tractors and combined harvesters, without which modern food production
would not exist. Whereas work is possible without modern tools, ideally, c­ onvenience
and productivity in the real world require the use of equipment that is also destruc-
tive to the environment. The discourse belongs to the control–aspect of the agential
repertoire when it draws on the opposition between individual self and collective
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 249

other. This kind of talk may be employed to absolve individuals from their respon-
sibilities to act because their actions either do not matter in the big picture of things
or because their actions cannot bring about changes in large interconnected systems.
In this case, the locus of control is placed outside of the individual, and others gen-
erally are depicted in opposition to the individual.
It turns out that those two repertoires suffice to justify the viewpoints that make
a post–ecological discourse of Swiss society generally and those aspects concerned
with unconstrained consumerism specifically.
In the Swiss media, consumerism—as the associated issues of economic growth
and globalization—frequently is depicted as a root cause of environmental degrada-
tion and global warming. The media report on the rampant consumerism among the
youth. The underlying system of ideas and beliefs is that the sense and fulfillment
of human life (happiness) lie in the consumption (possession) of goods. Consumption
is the behavior that goes with the ideology of consumerism. Studies tend to show
that only 20% of Swiss youths feel that they have less money than they need; they
may spend between 1000–5000 Swiss Francs per annum on clothing. Three quarters
suggest that they practically never had to go without a thing they wanted, thanks to
their parents they are not in any kind of need (Jacobs Foundation 2014).
When youths talk about their consumption related behaviors and thoughts, they
generally state not to take the environment into consideration. The discourse goes
like this:
When I go shopping, I don’t think about anything. I never consider how I could recycle it
afterwards. This only happens when I want to get rid of the product. When thinking about
and planning holidays, I don’t consider environmental issues either. The same is the case
when I buy clothing. I just think shopping is okay. It is part of life.

Allusions to ideas concerning trading off technology for more nature were accom-
panied by assertions that such changes should not compromise a consumption–ori-
ented life style. Such allusions therefore cannot be considered realistic options. That
is, the pragmatist repertoire is used to justify the rejection of any argument for a
decreased use of technology.
One of the dimensions of the post–ecological discourse pertains to neo–material-
ist and consumptive behaviors. Here, Swiss youths often draw on the folk psycho-
logical repertoire to justify positions taken with respect to consumerism and
environmental protection. We may hear a student, quite reflexively, normalize con-
sumerism at the expense of the environment: “Our generation does not really care.
Everything is cheap. You can buy low–prized clothes. You don’t think about envi-
ronmental protection. You notice that it is cheap and you buy it.” The statement,
“Simply [Ger. einfach] speaking, this is how it is today. You just [einfach] do it: You
buy the cheap clothes and you don’t think about it any further,” summarizes the
position. Here, the impersonal construction with the generic “you [Ger. man]” as the
subject generalizes the behavior to a generic everybody. This extension therefore
covers a whole generation, which does not care about the impact that consumerism
has on the environment; that behavior as characteristic of a generation also reso-
nates in the summarizing truth that things are as described. The single criterion for
250 W.-M. Roth

making a purchase is the prize of the goods. The unproblematic nature of acting in
this manner is captured adverbially (simply, just). This adverb constitutes a simple
action of purchasing that does not require a second thought. Consumerism is nor-
malized because everyone is doing it. It is a psychological fact that characterizes not
merely individual people but indeed is a mass psychological fact in that it character-
izes a whole generation.
Not all positions are stated in simple terms, that is, such that they can be defended
by drawing on one of the discursive resources. Consider the following statement,
which begins with a phrase that marks the existence of alternatives, “It depends ….”
It depends on what you buy. Human beings have some basic needs. If they were confining
themselves to those needs, then it would work and it would be good. However, there is a
problem: If we want to go on with technology, then we have to invest. You have to pay
researchers, instruments, and development. Everything is just so expensive. I mean to say,
you can’t simply halt progress.

In this statement, the possibility of an alternative is marked. That alternative is

between an ideal situation where humans confine themselves to their basic needs
and the reality of technology, which requires continuous development. This opposi-
tion between ideal behavior and what reality requires is part of the pragmatist rep-
ertoire, which also has a ring of common sense in drawing on the allied opposition
of theory and practice. The demarcation between the ideal and the real is further
strengthened by the deployment of talk from the folk science repertoire. The need
for progress and technological development is taken as a commonsense fact, which
therefore does not require further justification. However, progress and technological
development require financial resources. Researchers need to be paid, and natural
resources are required. Because progress is constituted as a natural event, which the
generic subject (“you”) cannot halt, consumption itself cannot be stopped. That is,
whereas the construction of the statement might lead to the assumption that unre-
strained consumerism is the real problem, the joint mobilization of the pragmatist
and folk science repertoires justifies consumption: It constitutes investments that
support continued societal–cultural progress and the associated technological
advancement.
In the preceding analyses, the folk psychological repertoire was used to justify
consumerism because it has been normalized into collectivized form of individual
behavior. We may gloss the position in this way: there is nothing wrong with my
consumerism because everyone else is behaving in the same way. When the talk
turns to environmental protection, the reverse form of argumentation is used. This
position may be glossed in this way: There is no use for me to act because individual
actions do not make a difference in the face of population size and complexity of
modern society. Here, the agential repertoire is a convenient resource to draw from.
The individual is juxtaposed to the collective: “If only one person makes an effort,
then acting is useless. It is difficult.” “When I do something alone, it is of no use.”
“The individual does not succeed. But when I do something and you do the same,
and others also do something, then together we can do something.” In this situation,
agency may be deferred to technology or institutions as the proper units that can
bring about change. This manifests itself discursively in statements such as “If I
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 251

alone were to separate my garbage and have solar panels on my roof, this would not
be enough. We need technology. We need the economy. And we need state funding.”
“If you want to achieve something, then you have to advertise or something like it
so that others also start to reflect.” The mobilization the agential repertoire with its
opposition between a (powerless) self and the collective other affords the individual
to justify not acting in an environment–friendly manner. Indeed, it allows the indi-
vidual not to think about the environment at all. Others generally, market forces or
the government, are tasked with the challenge to turn things around.

15.2.4  The School Trip

In Switzerland, as in Germany and some other countries, an annual “school trip

[Schulreise, Wandertag]” is an integral part of the school year. The intention of
these trips is to be educational in the widest sense, related to having experiences
from which students learn for life without the habitual attention to specific curricu-
lar topics (e.g. Weber 2001). In most instances, the trip may be for the day.
Sometimes it extends over two days, but may last for a week—such as when a class
decides to go skiing. The homeroom teacher and students decide on the destination
and purposes of the trip. Thus, the motivation may include a trip to a more distant
art gallery or exhibition; or it may be to go camping and hiking. Although organized
as a school activity, there is no explicit curriculum to be taught or experiences to be
had to enhance specific curriculum topics. My colleague had already interviewed
students and also participated in the whole–class discussion on the environment. We
were also interested in how the students from these same classes would relate to
each other, the environment, and to other aspects of Swiss society that they encoun-
ter outside of schools. He therefore accompanied two of the classes on their two–
day school trip. One of the two classes went to Lugano, a city in the Italian–speaking
part of the country on a lake surrounded by mountains. Attracting celebrities of all
sorts, it sometimes is nicknamed “Monte Carlo of Switzerland.” The class and their
chaperoning teachers stayed on a campground near the lake. The other class went to
Interlaken, a town in the Bernese Highlands situated in the German speaking part of
the country. Offering easy access to numerous sites of interests in its vicinity,
Interlaken attracts many tourists; it also is a destination for backpackers. The class
stayed in one of the local hostels. The program for both classes includes walks,
swimming, have some free time to go shopping; one class attends the performance
of a world–famous Swiss play.
Our many discussions revealed that my colleague was aghast. Over the course
of the two days with each class, he considered students of both classes to have
been mostly passive. They exhibited interest in going shopping for clothing, hang-
ing out in shopping malls, or eating out in a MacDonald’s restaurant. Apart from
these activities, they sometimes appeared just to wait for the end of the trip. One
the one hand, my colleague was astonished about the total absence of talk about
environmental issues. As stated above, the environment had been an integral part of
252 W.-M. Roth

the curriculum since seventh grade; and it had constituted one of the central ideas of
the entire science curriculum. In this context, my colleague was stunned to observe
that the students’ principal orientation was toward consumption.
The young men were mostly fooling around and sometimes playing tricks on
the women. If they talked at all, their topics were limited to cars and motorbikes
and their engines. They occasionally called each other’s attention to fancy cars
while hiking or shopping. One student had brought a cylinder and piston from a
motorcycle. The young men not only extensively discussed the device but also took
it apart and assembled in very knowledgeable and skillful ways. Even the girls
talked cars—e.g. when seeing several brand new SUVs in front of an expensive
villa—as desirable objects in the ideal futures that they fancied for themselves. My
colleague was baffled that in all this car–related interest there was no talk about the
impact that gasoline engines have on the environment, especially the gas–guzzling
engines of the SUVs.
The young women talked about movies, solved crossword puzzles, or chatted
about horseback riding. A lot of their time was spent on issues of appearance. Their
talk manifested the desire to be fashionable and stylish and their talk was concerned
with the gadgets they wore, including fancy leather belts or custom jewelry. Many
wore designer clothing. Some of the young women brought sufficient clothing with
them to change several times during a single day. Even though they were camping,
they were perfectly styled from head to toes during the entire trip. At one point, it
rained. My colleague noted that the young women were more afraid of spoiling
their designer shoes then of getting wet. Those who had gone to Lugano were disap-
pointed because the shops there, despite its glamorous reputation, were the same as
the stores in the city where they normally shopped; and they noted their preference
if the trip had been to Zurich where they anticipated shops to be fancier. The young
women were delighted when passing a beautiful villa with a view onto the lake.
They marveled at the swimming pool, the vast garden behind the house, and the
fancy cars in front. They reveled in talking about the luxury, and about the riches
they desired for their futures.
The students did not talk about the environment even where my colleague had
seen clear occasions for doing so. For example, at the camping site where one of the
two classes stayed, the water of the lake was polluted. Plastic bags galore were float-
ing in the water; and litter abounded. When the meals were prepared, students
employed paper plates and plastic spoons and knives; and my colleague observed a
wasteful use of paper napkins are extensively. When students were done, they dis-
carded everything without a single comment. None of the students appeared to
notice either the pollution or their own wasteful behavior.
The students appeared to be reticent to talk to the researcher. But during one of
the walks, he struck up a conversation with one of the young ladies, the contents of
which he could not forget. She explained to him that most people—young as much
as older generations—only pay lip service to environmental protection. In their daily
lives, they do not care about it in the least. There is no consideration, she explained,
how much energy and material waste actually comes with the new communication
technologies that pervade society as a whole. Nevertheless, she admitted, she is
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 253

using modern communication technology and quite skilful at it. Those involved in
green movements, on the other hand, are contradictory: They extensively use com-
puters and mobile phones, which, to top things off, they do not turn off. Despite all
verbally articulated good will, she concluded, the world is going down the drain and
humanity thus is doomed to disappear. However she also frankly admits being an
enthusiastic and skilled user of modern communication technology.
Observing the young people, listening to their conversation, and talking to them
was a discouraging experience for my colleague. He described his experience of
having witnessed a world of consumerism and lifestyle as a singular (obsessive)
object/motive orienting these youths. The men admired fashionable motorbikes and
cars as the objects that were of most importance to them and thereby constituted
their world; and the women articulated a world of fashionable clothes, houses, and
cars. In all of this, there were no considerations for the environment. They hardly
talked at all about environmental issues even when environmental degradation and
pollution was quite evident in the very setting that they currently inhabit. If the
environment became the topic, then it was only in terms of an inevitable bleak
future. Hedonism and pessimism combined to exhibit the face that environmental
depression takes in the post–ecologist discourse. In the end, he was shocked. Despite
talking in classroom extensively about the environment, nobody spoke about it on
the school trip. Indeed, my colleague was appalled by the distance between (a) the
contents of the lessons that had been prepared for the students and some of their talk
that showed awareness for consumerism and the environment and (b) the behavior
and talk that these same students displayed during their two–day school trips.

15.2.5  Analytic Reflections

When my colleague and I first talked about analyzing the data, he expressed how
shocked he was by the contradictions between their talk in the classroom and actions
in the field. He was especially shocked given the curricular concentration on envi-
ronmental protection and conservation, which provided a stark contrast to the mate-
rialist–hedonistic ways of defining the quality of life. He concluded that students
took and understood consumerism as a source of pleasure and satisfaction.
Technological innovation and progress generally were part of prosperity and eco-
nomical growth. Although this led to potential environmental conflicts, environ-
mental issues generally have to be respected. However, students say, any
environment–friendly decision must not endanger economical growth and prog-
ress—or wealth and prosperity would be compromised.
After having completed, a first pass through the analysis, and established the
working of the discursive repertoires across a variety of topics discussed in the
classroom, my colleague was able to overcome some of his consternation. He real-
ized that in the light of (a) the post–ecologist discourse in his native Swiss culture
and (b) our discourse analysis of the whole–class conversations and interviews, the
results of the participant observation were quite consistent. Our analyses showed
254 W.-M. Roth

the young people in a world that they discursively described and justified by draw-
ing on the available interpretive repertoires. These repertoires are cultural rather
than individual features. The repertoires are their tools for making sense. At the time
of our initial analyses, we observed a change in the use of the repertoires that actu-
ally made sense. During the interviews, we could observe links between the com-
monsense and agency repertoires, which provided for the explanatory resources that
supported the stance taken by the post–ecological discourse characteristic of Swiss
society. During the school trips, on the other hand, the commonsense repertoire was
the main discursive resource whereas the agential repertoire was hardly used.

15.3  Cultural–Historical Considerations

When my colleague and I analyzed the data, he was aghast of the apparent contra-
dictions between a largely ecological stance shown in the survey and supported in
the interviews and the consumerist non–environmentally conscious behavior exhib-
ited during the school trip. Those contradictions were especially stark given the fact
that the students have had a science curriculum in which the environment played a
significant role; and it explicitly intended students to become judicious consumers,
who consider the impact that their behavior has on the environment. Indeed, the
questionnaire results and some of the interviews were consistent with the curricu-
lum document, as were many of the claims stated in the whole–class discussions.
From a cultural–historical activity theoretic perspective, it makes sense that in the
context of school science, a greater degree of consistency might be observable. The
starkest contrast existed between the discourses about consumption and the environ-
ment and the actual behaviors and mundane talk in a different form of activity even
though it also belonged to the aegis of schooling. Understanding and coming to
grips with his initial perceptions were among the object/motives for engaging in the
analyses.
In the description of the plan for this book, which was circulated as part of the
invitation to write this chapter, the editors asked the question, “What is the role of
(school) science, media and technology in youth’s consumerism practices?” The
question has one type of answer in the findings, where the folk science and psychol-
ogy repertoires are mobilized in support of claims that economic growth, technical
advance (development), and therefore consumption are inevitable. Another answer
also is apparent with respect to the role of school science: There is no effect that the
science curriculum has on the consumerist and environment–related practices. The
Swiss students, all the while frequently taking a pro–environment stance and the
associated discourse, consume in ways that increase the load to be borne by the
environment. This indeed is an answer to another question raised in the invitational
abstract, “How do youths consume?” It also provides a partial answer to the ques-
tion why students consume. They do so because everyone does it and because it is
an integral and constitutive part of progress. As shown, this justifying discourse fits
within a small number of repertoires suffices to justify not only consumptive
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 255

behaviors but also the passivity with respect to the protection of the environment
and the participation in practices that diminish the environmental load.
My colleague originally assumed that the youths themselves were contradictory;
and he had taken an individualist perspective with respect to beliefs and behaviors.
He did not realize that what appear to be contradictions of individual students are
reflections of the contradictions of society as a whole. Those contradictions are the
necessary result and byproduct of the division of labor that allows generalized pro-
duction and satisfaction of needs (Marx and Engels 1978). These authors also state
that the essence of being human exists in the ensemble of societal relations. This
position is taken up by approaches to social psychology in the cultural–historical
tradition, which states that personality is the ensemble of societal relations; and
every higher psychological function was a social relation first (Vygotsky 1989).
Because each individual participates in specific productive societal activities (i.e.
units that preserve all the characteristics of society)—being a grocery shopper, an
athlete, a student, a worker, or parent—some of “its” psychological functions and
personality existed in the relations with others characteristic of these activities. In
their participation, individuals contribute to the realization of the societal object/
motives. Personality therefore constitutes an individual–specific hierarchy knotted
together from individualized societal (i.e. collective) object/motives (Leont’ev
1978); and the discourses that constitute the interpersonal relations (communicative
exchanges), because they are shared or there would not be relations (exchanges),
also become resources when speaking with individuals in the context of other
activities.
This sketch of an cultural–historical approach suffices for understanding that the
discourses (its position and resources) and behaviors identified among the youths do
indeed mirror Swiss society as a whole. This is so because the youths participate in
all those activities that constitute Swiss society. Their relations with other humans
reflect the relations to the social and natural environments. Their discourses, which
constitute the forms of consciousness that exists in practice for other people and
thus for the self (Marx and Engels 1978; Vygotsky 1987), reflect both relations with
others and relation with nature. If students exhibit consumerist behavior, then this
first was a relation with others that has been individualized. Indeed, there are mul-
tiple levels of relations in which consumerism first is experienced: relations with
parents with sufficient purchasing powers and youth–parent relations in relation to
salespersons standing in for shop owners. As seen in the simplest of exchanges at
the supermarket checkout, where the fitful screaming of the child is at the origin of
a chocolate or candy purchase, the relation of the parent to the surrounding social
world is part of the (instant) gratification of a felt need; and this felt need is itself of
the relation between the child and the environment. This mechanism becomes
clearly apparent when compared to situations and societies where the relations
between family members and between family and the natural and social environ-
ment differ (my early childhood, the fishing village, Vietnam). In such instances, we
observe very different developmental trajectories, those that are not characterized
by consumerist behaviors.
256 W.-M. Roth

Although a full analysis remains to be conducted, observations that can be made

in my local neighborhood provide some clues about where to look for understand-
ing consumerism and its individualization. I live in a working–class neighborhood,
where a large proportion of people are European immigrants and a smaller portion
of the population came from Asia (Vietnam, India, China). In every instance, fami-
lies only spend when they have the required resources; and other than the mortgage,
they never spend borrowed money. They also have a particular relation to hard work,
which they recognize to be the condition for escaping poverty and living in relative
ease. The children from these families tend to be equally judicious as consumers.
The opposite is the case in many “old–stock” Canadian families, where spending
beyond existing resources is normal and normalized—e.g. in the talk about “maxing
out the credit card.”
It would be illusory to assume that the creation of new needs could simply be
abandoned. Human history is characterized by the production of needs beyond the
fundamental one: sustenance of life through eating and drinking. Indeed, the pro-
duction of new needs was the first historical act (Marx and Engels 1978). But this
first historical production also led to the creation of means for the satisfaction of
needs. That is, the origin of history exists in a dual nature of the first historical deed:
the production of means to satisfy needs and the production of new needs are the
result of the same act. The production of new needs, therefore, is an integral aspect
of the cultural–historical nature of society. Denying the continuous creation of new
needs would therefore be a denial of the nature of society. But this does not mean
that we have to individualize all existing needs, which we then satisfy through con-
sumption. Indeed, we can learn from ecological systems that there are limits to
growth. Human life, including human economy, cannot expand forever. There will
be a point—which some consider already has been passed—when an exponentially
increasing population suddenly plummets because resources are lacking (e.g. think
deer on the Kaibab Plateau after the culling of its predators). It is possible to make
choices; and there are those who do indeed make such choices. However, it would
be equally naïve to assume that judicious consumption could be the result of teach-
ing oriented toward individuals or the result of institutionalized conditions (forces)
intended to make people act in some rather than other ways.

15.4  The Way to Freedom

The concept of affect is an active state and is freedom:

Freedom: affect in concept.
The central problem of all psychology is freedom. (Vygotsky 2010, p.  92, original
underline)

The editors of this volume asked me to end the chapter with considerations of the
questions for future research and practice, in and outside of schools. Before I even
got to read that part of the editors’ invitation, I had completed much of this section
that began with this introductory quotation. The quotation captures not only the
conclusions I am drawing from the preceding case materials and their analyses, but
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 257

also what I consider to be the orientation that future work needs to take. Thus, free-
dom not only is the central problem of psychology but also the central problem of
(science) education. We have yet to develop a psychology of freedom—much of
(motivational) psychology historically has been concerned with increasing the pro-
ductivity in factories and making students subject to the regimes of knowledge/
power; and we have yet to develop an education (pedagogy) of freedom—too much
of education still is concerned with making students fit to existing ideologies. The
most important work to be done, therefore, relates to freedom.

15.4.1  Psychological Perspectives

The Swiss youth talked a lot about necessity and being subject to conditions that
they cannot control drawing on the agential and folk psychological repertoires for
supporting their positions. It is apparent that their narratives are not about freedom,
that is, the freedom to choose otherwise. The talk—a mirror of the Swiss post–eco-
logical discourse—paints the future in a dark way, doom and gloom, where the only
positive aspect is that this future will come after the end of their lives. In the analysis
of the autobiographic materials above I point out the freedom that comes with the
choice of not having to have the latest consumer good and with the decision to focus
on the essentials as the basis for the sense of and happiness in life. As the introduc-
tory quotation of this section shows, Lev Vygotsky, in the months before he died,
considered freedom as the central problem of all psychology. He hints at where to
start with the theoretical considerations: affect in concept, that is, in the unity/identity
of affect and intellect. The quotation comes from a set of personal notes scribbled
on small sheets or narrow strips of paper, the first line of which reads “The lightning
bolts of Spinoza’s thoughts.” A vision for developmental psychology is sketched:
“The grand picture of development of personality: the path to freedom. Bring
Spinozism to life in Marxist psychology” (Vygotsky 2010, pp. 92–93). The psy-
chology Vygotsky envisioned would allow humans to make “the leap from the king-
dom of necessity into the kingdom of freedom,” which “inevitably puts the question
of the mastery of our own being, of its subjection to the self, on the agenda”
(Vygotsky 1997a, p. 342).
In his holistic approach to the human person, Baruch Spinoza describes human
bondage in terms of the strength of affects and human freedom as deriving from the
power of thought. Vygotsky intends building a theory of the psyche based on but
further developing a Spinozist vision according to which “destiny becomes a con-
scious part of the personality” (Vygotsky, as cited in Zavershneva 2010, p. 65). He
states that Spinoza has not yet articulated a peak psychology, so that the “power of
reason and freedom from slavery are not yet the highest. It is amor fati” (p. 65).
Amor fati is the Latin expression for “love of fate.” It names the disposition to life
where everything, including suffering, loss, and happiness are inherent and neces-
sary (constitutive) parts. Vygotsky understood Spinoza to be about will, a form of
affect, and about freedom, which comes from the mastery of passions. In a para-
doxical way, therefore, freedom, the mastery of the passions, derives from the pas-
258 W.-M. Roth

sions that subject the human subject. Humans distinguish themselves from animals
in the fact that they can choose what to yield to—a situation that Vygotsky repeat-
edly describes in terms of the story of the Buridan’s ass or dogs in the Buridan situ-
ation, who (in a situation where they have to decide between food or drink) die
incapable of making the choice (e.g. Vygotsky 1997b). What is it that allows humans
to make such choices? Vygotsky is unequivocal. It is consciousness, which “is a
problem that is broader, more profound, and still more extraordinary than the prob-
lem of thinking” (Vygotsky 1987, p. 285). The psychologist never got to work on
that problem, having come to its threshold where he felt like Moses who had seen
the Promised Land but was not allowed to enter it.

15.4.2  Pedagogical Perspectives: Conscientização

Feeling that one has to have the latest consumer good, a need that is a societal prod-
uct, and giving in to this feeling are a form of oppression. In the examples from my
personal life or that of the Vietnamese families this form of oppression does not
exist. This is a positive framing of what Janis Joplin says in her song Me and Bobby
McGee: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Freedom also means
recognizing and working toward overcoming the oppression. Overcoming such
oppression takes a “pedagogy of the oppressed” (Freire 2005). Such pedagogy
begins with the understanding that “to surmount the situation of oppression, people
must first critically recognize its causes, so that through transforming action they
can create a new situation” (p.  47). Critical recognition and becoming critically
aware is conscientização, critical consciousness. It means not only understanding
the world, as philosophers (and many scientists) do, but essentially the motive of
transforming it (Marx and Engels 1978). For teachers, the challenge is to allow
students wanting to become conscious, wanting conscientização. Freire recognized
that this is not easy—and readers will have recognized that the discursive resources
supporting the post–ecological discourse will make the task challenging. This is so
because “the oppressed, who have adapted to the structure of domination in which
they are immersed, and have become resigned to it, are inhibited from waging the
struggle for freedom” (Freire 2005, p.  47). They are inhibited from waging the
struggle “so long as they feel incapable of running the risks it requires” (p.  47).
Indeed, science teachers themselves may not recognize that their teaching geared
toward developing scientific reasoning and literacy does not provide their students
with opportunities for conscientização. I close this chapter with the story of one
teacher, Leandro (Erika Germanos told it to me).
Leandro had taught social studies for many years. Beginning his career in a col-
lege preparatory school, he had developed ways of teaching that helped students
pass the entrance examinations. Over the year, even though he had eventually shifted
to teach in the public school system, he had further refined his concept–focused
self–contained lesson modules. He continuously improved his approach and was
successful at it by all accounts. His peers recognized his dedication and the students
liked him very much. Eventually he signed up to participate in a research group,
15  Youth Consumerism: A Cultural–Historical Approach 259

where the other members included a science teacher, several preservice teachers,
and a doctoral student whose thesis was to be about this research intervention.
Among other things, the group discussed articles they read. One evening, the
discussion concerned an article “Poop on the beach, no!” The author of this text was
a teacher, who, inspired by the work of Freire, had made it possible for his students
to participate in a locally organized movement against a government project. The
project was to construct an outfall that would release raw sewage into the ocean just
off the low–income favela where the students lived. Reading the article, Leandro
was deeply disturbed. His unease was deepened during the discussion in the group.
He was becoming aware that he had done nothing to help students become critical
citizens even though he always had had the well being of his students in mind. In the
process, Leandro underwent a developmental process of consciousness not only
pertaining to his own ways of being but also for the social conditions that reproduce
the phenomena (student failure, unemployment) that these same conditions are sup-
posedly designed to overcome. It was a process known as conscientização, which
consists of and allows for the critical consciousness of societal (political) contradic-
tions; and out of this process, he was able to engage students in ways to foster con-
scientização in them.
Most instructional approaches today are grounded in a (radical, social) construc-
tivist epistemology. This epistemology is problematic, in particular because it does
not recognize the sociogenetic origins of higher psychological functions and per-
sonality. The constructivist epistemology considers the individual as the unit of
analysis, focusing on how s/he “constructs” knowledge, identity, beliefs, and so
on—recognizing that this often occurs within social configuration with teachers,
peers, or parents. The basic assumption of social (sociohistorical) constructivism is
that individuals construct something in relations with others and then interiorize
this. The cultural–historical epistemology is radically different in that it recognizes
the relation itself as manifestation of everything that is specifically human: higher
psychological functions and personality. The upshot is that any behavior that we
might eventually attribute to our students will have been real (concrete) relations
with other people. They will thus live conscientização first as relation before we
may attribute conscientização to them. They will first live new relations to con-
sumer goods before we may attribute this relation to them.
My wife and I have developed conscientização. For example, when we buy the
occasional tropical fruit, we look at the country of origin. We make political,
­ecological, and ecojustice–related decisions by supporting fair trade and organic pro-
duction and by not supporting countries where despicable political powers are in
place. In this, we are constantly confronted with contradictions, and it is precisely
freedom that allows us to choose. Thus, an organic orange from California (only
1500 km south of where we live, but in the US) is better than an orange from Italy
(half a world away) or Israel (half a world away and despicable politics); and some-
times the choice is no orange at all. This freedom itself feels like a greater quality of
life than the ability to buy anything anywhere at any time. As Freire showed, consci-
entização also is what allows people in poverty and adverse political conditions to
engage in the struggle to overcome their conditions; conscientização is that struggle
with the conditions. For my parents, getting an education was an important step out
260 W.-M. Roth

of poverty; but it was not enough because much of present–day education is part of
the problem of inequitable society (Roth 2015). If the Vietnamese who I encountered
and talked to want to change their lives, it also will be through conscientização. The
concept thereby highlights the two themes in Marx and Engel’s stipulation of the
human condition: to be agential subject producing the conditions to which they are
subject and subjected. It thereby also highlights the concept and condition of free-
dom: We are free to make the conditions to which we are subject and subjected, or
more precisely, to which we subject ourselves. Allowing students to realize that they
do not have to be fearful of this freedom possibly is the most important goal of a truly
democratic education. This requires constant and responsible work, for “freedom is
acquired by conquest, not by gift” (Freire 2005, p. 47); and the required pedagogy of
the oppressed “must be forged with, not for, the oppressed” (p. 48).
One of the first observations that can be anticipated will be a change in how stu-
dents draw on the currently available repertoires. This is so because conscientização
allows “perceiving the reality of oppression not as a closed world from which there
is no exist, but as a limiting situation which they can transform” (Freire 2005, p. 49).
They can also transform their discourses together with the conditions. The solution
to the problem, therefore, is not caught in the opposition of the pragmatist repertoire
ideal and the real, but in the recognition of the power to act and transform the reign-
ing conditions. That power is increased in the recognition that the contribution to
the collective control over conditions also expands the person’s control over indi-
vidually relevant conditions. The analyses of the Swiss post–ecological discourse
shows that the ideal | real and individual | collective oppositions are used to account
for non–action. That is, those drawing on these discursive repertoires do recognize
contradictions; and yet this recognition does not lead to a freedom from consumer-
ism. Freire suggests: “the oppressed can overcome the contradiction in which they
are caught only when this perception enlists them in the struggle to free themselves”
(p. 49). Our highest goal as teachers should be working with students so that they
can move from simply being aware of contradictions toward overcoming them,
becoming free in the sense of Vygotsky’s amor fati.

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Wolff–Michael Roth  is Lansdowne Professor of Applied

Cognitive Science at the University of Victoria. He has obtained
an MSc in physics (University of Würzburg, Germany), a PhD on
mathematical reasoning in adults (College of Science and
Technology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg),
and an honorary doctorate from the University of Ioannina
(Greece). His multidisciplinary research focuses on knowing and
learning across the life span, in formal education, workplace, and
leisure settings; and his research methods span the spectrum from
quantitative–inferential to qualitative–descriptive studies. He
published over 60 books, over 460 peer–reviewed journal articles,
and over 210 book chapters.