Mastery and Self-Control

John Desmond
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John Desmond: University of St Andrews

Chapter 3 in Psychoanalytic Accounts of Consuming Desire, 2013, pp 56-85 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Since neo-liberalism finally came into its own towards the end of the 1970s, Western citizen-consumers have been constantly reminded that the world is their oyster. ‘You’ve Got It!’ was the slogan that united the calls of politicians, property developers, bankers and company directors, who between them inflated the biggest credit bubble in history, with many of them managing to walk off with the proceeds just before it burst.1 Rather than questioning and reforming the basis of this ruinous enterprise, the response has been generally to accelerate state withdrawal from key sectors of public life and to intensify the implementation of privatization, as national economies struggle to balance the books. The prevailing rhetoric of those heady years, about the centrality of consumer mastery and choice, rings hollowly for millions of consumers today.

Keywords: Internet Addiction; Consumer Society; Transitional Object; Oedipus Complex; Pleasure Principle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-28908-7_3

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137289087_3

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