Drawing from thinkers such as Karl Marx, David Harvey, and Thomas Piketty, Wilhite examines how the foundational elements of capitalism — economic growth, individual ownership, marketization, product differentiation, and turnover — hinder sustainability transformations and fuel increasing consumption.
The origins of consumer capitalism[3] are found in the development of American department stores from the mid 19th Century, notably the advertising and marketing innovations at Wanamaker's in Philadelphia.
[4] Author William Leach describes a deliberate, coordinated effort among American 'captains of industry' to detach consumer demand from 'needs' (which can be satisfied) to 'wants' (which may remain unsatisfied).
This cultural shift represented by the department store is also explored in Émile Zola's 1883 novel Au Bonheur des Dames, which describes the workings and the appeal of a fictionalized version of Le Bon Marché.
The diversion of libidinal energy toward the consumption of consumer products, Stiegler argues, results in an addictive cycle, leading to hyperconsumption, the exhaustion of desire, and the reign of symbolic misery.