Abstract
In recent years, austerity-related discourses have become a popular means of imagining and promoting more sustainable living. This article situates the re-emergence of the slogan ‘dig for victory’ in the wider discursive formation of ‘anti-consumerism’, and explores the relationship between the ‘defetishizing’ qualities of commodity histories and the constitution of ethico-political consuming subjects. Following Laclau's notion that a conversion of subjectivity results from persuasion, I suggest that the persuasiveness of ‘dig for victory’ lies in its insistence upon historical solutions to today's problems. The discourse seems to consolidate the dominant-hegemonic ‘myth of the home front’, yet ‘dig for victory’ also appears to have the capacity to render certain radical ideas, such as operating outside of the capitalist commodity system, unthreatening and even appealing. I explain why this case study points to an urgent need to rethink the historical as a resource for the constitution of radical collective projects and agents.
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Notes
Soper suggests that ‘[s]uch ‘agency’ would no longer be class specific, but more diffusely exercised – even if in the first instance many of the more rebellious consumers would probably be relatively well off. This kind of counter-consumerist political perspective thus marks a significant departure from earlier critiques of capitalism’ (2009, p. 10).
Thanks to Niles Freebury for introducing me to Michael Pollan's work.
Crouch and Parker are working against the prevailing view of ‘heritage’ as a politically conservative mode of historical representation (see, for example, Wright, 1985; Bromley, 1988).
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Bramall, R. Dig for victory! Anti-consumerism, austerity and new historical subjectivities. Subjectivity 4, 68–86 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/sub.2010.27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sub.2010.27