Buying Our Identity - Part 1

This post may seem to be a bit off-track, but I don't think it is. We've been discussing identity and this builds on that conversation.

One of the challenges of youth - and maturity - is finding our identity and, as believers, finding our identity in Christ. But in this consumer-driven, post-modern society, there are forces that can challenge us to find our identity elsewhere. David J. Burns wrote an insightful article on this topic, Self-Construction through Consumption Activities. It's an academic piece, but accessible. For brevity and flow, I left out most of the citations, but if you are interested, you can read the full account in The Self: Beyond the Postmodern Crisis (Paul C. Vitz & Susan M. Felch, editors).

As you read this, consider how our surfing of the web, scanning Amazon.com, or clicking on pop-up adds reveals something about ourselves.

In a postmodern society, the new foundation of the self is arguably presentation activity. Presentation is a personal choice through which one's chosen self can be established through displaying it to oneself and to others. The most commonly used channel through which presentation is used to construct one's self is through consumption activities. As Slater (1997) states, "Individuals must, by force of circumstances, choose, construct, maintain, interpret, negotiate, display who they are to be or be seen as, using a bewildering variety of material and symbolic resources." The link between consumption activities, specifically the acquisition of possessions, and the self has been recognized for some time. (Indeed, even Shakespeare recognized this relationship as Job did - arguably the oldest book in the Bible.) The difference with regard to the postmodern self is one of degree. For many today, consumption activities have become a primary, if not the only, channel for self-construction. 

Think about this. We often buy things to show the world what we value. These are all economic choices that tell the world about us and present an identity to others. In days past, the family, community, and religion were foundational in forming our personal identity. Today, more and more, it's Amazon, Walmart, and Google.

Burns writes: "In such a consumer culture, material possessions do not merely provide comfort or satisfy physical needs. Instead, they act primarily as tools in the process of self-construction, and only secondarily as a means to satisfy physical needs."

To be continued.