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Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change & Consumerism by Aja Barber
analiesecausey's review against another edition
Ran out of time with my hold. Might pickup again later
sammybecause's review against another edition
2.0
this book grazed the surface on a lot of really important topics, even ones mentioned on the cover (colonialism and climate change), but left me wanting more. it felt like i was reading someone's adhd rambling. the book lacked structure and a natural flow and felt VERY repetitive given the information we were given was very surface level. it felt underresearched. perhaps i went into this book already knowing the 'surface level' issues with overconsumption and fast fashion and this book wasn't written for me
i also feel like the entire book was tip-toeing around pointing the finger of blame at the (in my opinion) very obvious culprit: capitalism. it is so weird to write a book on overconsumption and not criticize capitalism almost at all. there are nods at putting more blame on the major corporations and demanding action from our governments but the book spent the majority of the time demanding individuals to change in consumer habits which, i mean like yeah, but also that's not the sole solution or even a sliver of the solution.
is it hater-core to say i could tell the person who wrote this book spends a good amount of time on twitter? .....
i also feel like the entire book was tip-toeing around pointing the finger of blame at the (in my opinion) very obvious culprit: capitalism. it is so weird to write a book on overconsumption and not criticize capitalism almost at all. there are nods at putting more blame on the major corporations and demanding action from our governments but the book spent the majority of the time demanding individuals to change in consumer habits which, i mean like yeah, but also that's not the sole solution or even a sliver of the solution.
is it hater-core to say i could tell the person who wrote this book spends a good amount of time on twitter? .....
tessyoung's review against another edition
2.0
I'm torn over this book because it wasn't at all what I was expecting. Given the subtitle I imagined that this book would be a deep dive into the complex and problematic relationship between our everyday addiction to fast fashion, and the structural conditions and inequalities on which it is built and which it fuels. Instead this is a broad brush treatment of these issues.
Stylistically it speaks directly to the audience and those it critiques as at the summit of the fast fashion hierarchy, it is part polemic and part call to action. In places it is repetitious and goes off on tangents requiring handbrake turns to get back to the main discussion. There is a great deal of first person reflection here, and use of the evolving self as the main exemplar for how we all need to change.
At the end of the day I don't think I'm the intended audience for this book. I think it would be good for a young person who is new to these debates. It would give them an overview without overly simplifying or omitting key elements of the debate, and the style may suit an audience more used to getting all their information online. This book reminded me of the old Virago "Young Person's Guide to Animal Rights' and 'Young Person's Guide to Saving the Planet' of the early 1990s and I was too old for them then so...
However, even passing it on to a young person there would be major caveats about the source material and the referencing. I feel I know enough about this subject to accept that what Aja says could be backed up by clear, rigorous research, except she largely doesn't do so. In places other research and reports are cited in the text, but are not included in the limited bibliography. I guess one needs to take title and author and 'google it'. Indeed most of the resources are online resources and podcasts, which again points to a much younger demographic. It's not that I don't listen to these things but that I'm too old fashioned and academic to write a book based on them alone.
As such I feel this book is a good one for those looking to educate themselves on these issue but don't know where to start. I hope it would inspire those who want to change behaviour - their own and that of corporations, but I fear that it would do little to convert the sceptic.
Despite my disappointment I'm glad to have read this, I can't say I really enjoyed it, but I do have a young person in mind to pass it on to and se what she makes of it...
Stylistically it speaks directly to the audience and those it critiques as at the summit of the fast fashion hierarchy, it is part polemic and part call to action. In places it is repetitious and goes off on tangents requiring handbrake turns to get back to the main discussion. There is a great deal of first person reflection here, and use of the evolving self as the main exemplar for how we all need to change.
At the end of the day I don't think I'm the intended audience for this book. I think it would be good for a young person who is new to these debates. It would give them an overview without overly simplifying or omitting key elements of the debate, and the style may suit an audience more used to getting all their information online. This book reminded me of the old Virago "Young Person's Guide to Animal Rights' and 'Young Person's Guide to Saving the Planet' of the early 1990s and I was too old for them then so...
However, even passing it on to a young person there would be major caveats about the source material and the referencing. I feel I know enough about this subject to accept that what Aja says could be backed up by clear, rigorous research, except she largely doesn't do so. In places other research and reports are cited in the text, but are not included in the limited bibliography. I guess one needs to take title and author and 'google it'. Indeed most of the resources are online resources and podcasts, which again points to a much younger demographic. It's not that I don't listen to these things but that I'm too old fashioned and academic to write a book based on them alone.
As such I feel this book is a good one for those looking to educate themselves on these issue but don't know where to start. I hope it would inspire those who want to change behaviour - their own and that of corporations, but I fear that it would do little to convert the sceptic.
Despite my disappointment I'm glad to have read this, I can't say I really enjoyed it, but I do have a young person in mind to pass it on to and se what she makes of it...
s_a_mcrae's review against another edition
Very political and just couldn’t get into it
beccakoblin's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0