Dd101 Tma02 Explore the Claim That a Consumer Society Is Always a Throw Away Society

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TMA02 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Explore the claim that a consumer society is always a ‘throw-away’ society. In this essay I will explore the claim that a consumer society is always a ‘throw-away’ society. Hetherington, K. (2009) defines a consumer society as “a society which is defined as much by what people buy and use as by how they are employed.” Since the 1860’s consumerism has been a big part of life in Europe, in 1869 the first department store was opened in Paris, the Bon Marche. This led to many department stores opening in the UK, department stores made it possible for people to buy a range of different items in one store rather than going to several different specialist stores. Department stores were able to flourish due to industrial advancements at the time like new factory machines which made mass production faster and more efficient also the railway which allowed raw products and finished goods to be transported much faster and cheaper than the previously used canals which were very slow. Department stores were not selling high quality luxury items but were able to promote an image of luxury. Hetherington, K. (2009) wrote that “The department store was not really a place designed for selling many genuine, high priced luxury items; rather, it was geared up to selling high volumes of cheaper goods and making a profit out of the economies of scale that came with selling lots of things at a small profit rather than a few things for a large profit.” In recent years department stores have become outdated as new shopping malls and retail parks have become the dominant figure in consumerism. Retail parks contain many big named stores and normally have very large car parks as the consumers they intend on attracting are families and people who drive to the retail park on

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