Consumption

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani approaches consumption through Michel Clouscard, beginning by rejecting the notion of a "consumer society". For him, there are only classes: those that consume more than they produce, and those that produce more than they consume1. Measured against today's productive forces, working-class consumption seems insufficient to him. He regards the indictment of consumption as a reactionary theme that ecologism took up after 68, and he opposes degrowth2. He distinguishes capital goods from playful, libidinal and marginal consumption, which is the only kind Clouscard criticizes. He links this consumption to the Marshall Plan and to overproduction: liberal-libertarian capitalism opens new markets of desire, and it is permissive for the consumer and repressive for the producer3. Against Lordon, he sees the proletarian's deprivation of consumption as the ethical foundation of his demands4. He extends the question to music, whose sales follow the stability of the metre2. Speaking of Rousseau, he relates it to the triangle of self, other and thing: one always consumes something of the other along with the thing5.

1. 1Tout est permis mais rien n'est possible - Michel Clouscard - 129 Jan 2012
2. 2#5 Libéralisme-libertaire, consommation libidinale et musique...27 Sept 2014
3. 3[ENTRETIEN] DOMINIQUE PAGANI - Michel Clouscard et la trahison de mai 687 Feb 2025
4. 4NÉOFASCISME ET IDÉOLOGIE DU DÉSIR : Michel CLOUSCARD toujours d'actualité ? - avec Dominique PAGANI23 May 2026
5. 5La PHILO avec PAGANI : E comme ENFANCE4 Jun 2023

Introduction produced automatically from the 10 sessions on this theme, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the sessions.