Introduction

Consumer culture emerged in China in the final years of Qing Dynasty, when China's self-imposed autarky was gradually demolished by a series of foreign invasions. Came with western industrial capitalist enterprises were manufactured goods from the west and Japan, hence the emergence of consumer culture, along with radical transformation of lifestyle when industrial products became readily available at much cheaper price than local goods made in traditional ways.[1] Consumerism in late imperial and republican eras were heavily intertwined with the process of establishing China as a nation, despite the absence of tariff tools due to China ceding its sovereignty to major world powers after substantial military failures.

The republican era saw the establishment of commercial advertisements and brand hierarchies, especially globally famous brands. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power in 1949, trade with foreign countries were cut or greatly reduced due to the Korean War and subsequent sanctions, leading to the diminishing of foreign brands in China, although existing users still cherish their items like Parker pens, Singer sewing machines and numerous Swiss wristwatches, and many items still find their way to China during the Mao era in smaller quantities.

Consumerism and consumer culture did not demise during the Mao era. Brand hierarchies were replaced by a series of Chinese brands ran by state owned enterprises. During this period forms of consumer culture altered in response to the country's political atmosphere, which emphasizes hard work and frugal living (艰苦朴素).[2] Fetishism, or the worship of commodities, continued to exist in various forms. For instance, ownership of a wristwatch was connected to privileged social status, since watches were not only expensive but also requires coupons. For women, mastery in using sewing machines was considered to be highly favorable, as being able to sew would indicate likelihood of being a better wife.[3] Throughout Mao era, uneven distribution of industrial products continued to enlarge the three main social differences: urban vs. rural; industrial vs. agricultural and intellectual vs. manual labor (三大差别) that the party claimed it would try to bridge.

During the 1970s, China underwent drastic economic changes that fueled the emergence of a large, vibrant and diverse commodity economy and the rise of consumer culture. Came with those were a range of negative externalities. In China would soon lead to the rise of unequal social class systems existing in modern China, heavy production rates, the introduction of extreme markets in China, and ultimately negative effects on the climate that would later contribute to the growing climate crisis that plagues China and the rest of the world today. This would be due to the high rates of production leading to a rise of air pollution and the burning of fossil fuels. The implications to the rise of mass consumerism, is mass production in China. As the demand for goods and luxury items began to skyrocket, the Chinese market needed to keep up with demand. Most of China's industrial workplaces and factories used fossil fuels to make these products as production only continued to grow by the end of the Mao era in the middle of the 1970s. This is when the effects of climate changes started to be noticed by the rest of the world and climatologists. The constant release of fossil fuels due to production of demanded goods have led to an increase of toxic gases such as carbon dioxide to be present in the air, and that has led to the Greenhouse effect, that traps these toxic chemicals in our ozone layer and lower atmosphere, leading to the increase of heat in the global climate.

Rise of Consumerism

Late Imperial and Republican Era

Before 19th century China was largely in autarky, characterized by self-sustainable natural economy. Emperor Qianlong made a very famous comment on the issue when he spoke to an embassy led by George Macartney in 1793: "The celestial empire......has all kinds of exotic and valuable items as you have seen......We do not need to trade with you for anything."[1] At that time China showed no interest to British goods, but the situation soon began to change throughout the 19th century. Industrially manufactured goods like cloth flooded into China after the Opium War due to the much lower tariff rate specified in the unequal Treaty of Nanking and the following tax agreement in 1843. Tariff for British textile range from 13.38% to 29.93% previously but were slashed to 5.56 to 6.95% after 1843.[4]

China in the Mao Era

While capitalism was generally looked down upon, during the end of the Mao Era China went through significant cultural and economic changes that would bring a rise of capitalism in the Chinese Market. This was due to the fact that the socialist party in China held views that had similarities to capitalist countries in the West. After the death of Mao Zedong who died on September 9, 1976, and the arrests of the Gang of Four, the Cultural Revolution in China had come to an end, and consumerism started to rise at a considerable rate.

This in turn would bring a rapid rise of product demand and the rise of production. Many voices in the Chinese communist party have pointed out that the structure of the country became a complete disaster during this time period due to the country drastically turning away from their own views. Consumerism as a whole played a large role during this period of cultural transformation as a whole in the 1970s. People were now starting to be introduced to goods they were restricted to have access to in the Mao Era. These newly demanded luxury items would include bicycles, wristwatches, wallets, and sewing machines. The amount of factories in China started to grow at an accelerated rate for production to match the growing demand within China. This would later increase as Chinese products began to be imported into foreign countries around the world at an extremely low price that would rival other non-native companies around the globe. However the rise of production would negatively affect the air quality in China as well as many factory workers who had to work in extremely poor conditions. Migrant workers were said to have worked seven days a week, having to suffer under 16 hour shifts each day. Many were paid extremely low wages in order to compensate for the low prices Chinese products had around the world.[5] As well, during production large amounts of coal would be burned each day which would later result in around 40 people in China dying from horrible air conditions.

Setbacks of the Growth of Consumerism

Extreme Markets

The rise of consumerism and production in China that began after the economic changes led to the reemergence of markets that existed before the communist era in China and the rise of extreme markets in China.

These extreme markets would include wet markets that sell wild animals for consumption, and well as underground sex shops. The introduction of extreme markets in China would emerge soon after the end of the Cultural Revolution in China and economic reforms started being made that would advance consumer culture in Chinese society. During the Mao Era, most markets were eliminated and it was extremely difficult for the Chinese population to buy necessities for themselves in order to survive. These extreme markets show the negative consequences of consumer culture's rise in China, as these markets have reached the point where they can no longer be controlled by the Chinese government, despite many efforts being made to do so. Due to the lack of regulation from the government, these markets would sell the services of wet nurses, sex workers, human organs, illegal drugs, young brides and even children.[6] They would lead to the rise of human trafficking becoming a more common occurrence in the country, the adoption created a new consumer market in China, wet markets causing harm to the environment, and the rise of the sexual awakening in China. The rise of extreme markets in China is also a symbol that mass consumerism and consumer culture in China is now seemingly out of control.[6]

Wet Markets

During the last decade of the Mao Era, around 36 million people in the Chinese population died from famine. However, after Deng Xiaoping started to make economic reforms in order to reduce famines, Chinese farmers were to privately grow and produce their own source of food, and were allowed to directly sell their products to consumers. As the state no longer controlled food production and set fixed prices on products, this led to agricultural production and consumption in China increased rapidly. However, many farmers chose to hunt wildlife in order to provide for themselves and sell, and this led to the rise of wet markets in China. Often, these wild animals would be kept in poor conditions and caged close to one another. The transfer of diseases from animals to one another would become quite common as a result due to these poor regulations in these wet markets. These wet markets would also create damage to the environment and ecosystem as many endangered animals who were already at risk of being extinct were now being sold off for consumption. Rising incomes as a result of the new economic reforms, that allowed for more people to purchase rare animals in these wet markets. The consumption of these endangered animals in banquets was portrayed as a symbol of wealth and luxury, a lifestyle that was valued highly in China's new consumer culture. Many who also consumed the meat of these endangered animals may believe in superstitions where the consumption of these animals' meat would enhance certain behavior. Animals from all around the world, not just local Chinese wildlife, such as the Bengal Tiger, Asian leopards, lynx, otters, pangolin, bears, turtles, and Brazilian lizards are a few examples of animals that are sold at these markets. Smuggling rings started to transfer the skin and meat of these animals to wet markets despite the Chinese government's effort to reduce the amount of endangered animals sold at these markets. These smuggling rings will extend from China to regions all the way in South America. Over 5000 different endangered animals have been found to be sold in these smuggling rings. The Wildlife Protection Law that was passed in 1989 is one example of the Chinese government trying to regulate extreme markets like the wet market, however failed. This law made it illegal to buy or consume animals that were internationally protected and endangered, but consumption still continued. This has contributed to many animals like Tigers and Himalayan black bears almost going extinct due to excessive Chinese consumption. Due to these markets and the poor conditions animals face, China is met with international pressure from animal rights groups and European Parliament.[7]

Human Trafficking

The women and children sold in these extreme markets are victims of human trafficking that has become a common occurrence in China. Many children who are left unsupervised for a short period of time are at risk of being kidnapped and sold in these extreme markets, even if they are in their own homes.[8] Many parents who are victims of having their children go missing often have to make organizations among themselves in order to find their children. Many parents who have reported their child's disappearance to the authorities or even government officials.

Negative Impacts on the Environment

The rise of consumerism in China has helped boost the market and raise China's economy, but has played a part in severe damage to the environment and air pollution in China and the rest of the world. During the Mao Era, being wasteful was heavily looked down upon and it was encouraged that the Chinese population be frugal with their belonging. Personal consumption was heavily looked down upon and people often reused their personal belongings due to the mass amount of poverty that plagued China during the Mao Era. The Chinese population also had to deal with a scarce amount of products being available to purchase. By the 1990s however, people were free to easily deposit and buy as much goods and products as they pleased as the emergence of a wider variety of products due to higher production rates within China. However, the rise of consumer culture has led to the rise of wasteful habits as well as pollution. For example, by the 1990s, chopsticks were given out to be used and disposed off frequently. While this seems like a minor change in Chinese society, the easy disposal of chopsticks millions of trees being cut down to produce these disposable chopsticks that are handed out everyday in China. However, disposable products instead of reusable ones became a symbol of a civilized lifestyle, particularly by China's middle class that could afford this behavior. Many food markets and eating establishments have been switching to disposable products like chopsticks since the 1980s.[9] Also, due to economic changes introduced back in the end of the 1970s, the Chinese population has grown accustomed to eating large proportions of food, especially meat. The consumption of meat was now considered in Chinese society to be a symbol of luxury, which was life that many people in China desired to have and showcase to their peers. Meat like beef, pork, and chicken is extremely common in almost every Chinese meal today, and this results in an increasing amount of livestock to be raised for future consumption.[10] Due to constant grazing, many areas that were one grassland have turned to deserts in China with nearly a million acres of land in China being turned to a desert. This allows for more loose soil and dust to be picked up by the wind and travel around in the air, causing more population.

Also the rise of production has led to high releases of carbon emissions in the air as many factories spread across China burn fossil fuels like coal in order to produce goods to satisfy the growing demand of products by consumers in China and around the world. The buildup of carbon emission in the air contributes to the Green House effect in the Earth's lower atmosphere layer and ozone layer as carbon is a heat trapping gas.[10] By the year 2018, China was known to be the largest producer of heat trapping emission in the world, with carbon emissions from the country exceeding emissions from the United States and Europe combined. China also burned the most coal in industrial production, as well as everyday uses like cooking or heating than the rest of the world's use combined, as well as recorded to have used about 2.8 billion tons of coal being used in 2008.[10] The burning of coal takes up around 68.7% of the country's total energy consumption. The rise of pollution has also led to heavy smog to pollute cities constantly, and make the air quality in China almost insufferable to deal with. Around 64 people in China die each day due to poor air quality and thousands of people in the population die from premature deaths each year due to heavy toxic gases polluting the air in urban areas. The burning of coal in heavy production and other human activity in China also resulted in a mass amount of sulfur dioxide gas, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases released into the air. The increasing amount of sulfur dioxide gas in the air has resulted in multiple cases of acid rain to occur in China.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 郭, 立珍 (2011). 中国近代洋货进口与消费转型研究 (in Chinese). 北京: 中央编译出版社. pp. 7–13. ISBN 9787511712332.
  2. ↑ Gerth, Karl (2021). 消费中国：资本主义的敌人如何成为消费主义的信徒 (in Chinese). Taipei: 台湾商务印书馆. p. 35. ISBN 9789570533422.
  3. ↑ Gerth, Karl (2021). 消费中国：资本主义的敌人如何成为消费主义的信徒 (in Chinese). Taipei: 台湾商务印书馆. pp. 30–31. ISBN 9789570533422.
  4. ↑ 许, 涤新 (1990). 中国资本主义发展史 第二卷 旧民主主义革命时期的中国资本主义 (in Chinese). 北京: 人民出版社. p. 44. ISBN 9787010005133.
  5. ↑ Harney, Alexandra (2008). The China Price. New York: The Penguin Press.
  6. 1 2 Gerth, Karl (2010). As China Goes, So Goes the World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 147–148. ISBN 9781429962469.
  7. ↑ Gerth, Karl (2010). As China Goes, So Goes the World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 175–176. ISBN 9781429962469.
  8. ↑ Sang, Ye (2006). China Candid. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520245129.
  9. ↑ Gerth, Karl (2010). Growing Consumer Culture of China. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 181–183. ISBN 9781429962469.
  10. 1 2 3 Gerth, Karl (2010). As China Goes, So Goes the World. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 184–185. ISBN 9781429962469.
  11. ↑ Sandalow, David (2019). Guide to Chinese Climate Policy. New York. p. 10.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.