Online Sharing and Piracy: Consuming without Consuming

The questions about the possibility of reproducing neoliberal discourses and the hesitations about falling back onto the Marxist paradigms have troubled cultural studies scholars in their survey of consumerism. Binkley and Littler's (2008) introduction to Cultural Studies issue on the field's relationship with anti-consumerism maps these two concerns and their repercussions on cultural studies. Despite revisiting the problems of commodification and fetishization with reference to anti-consumerism, the writers of the issue fail to survey the duality between “using” and “consuming” in the digital era. In that context, the various cases of online sharing and piracy challenge these writers' discussion of anti-consumerism and reveal the limitations of cultural studies.

Although being situated within capitalist and neoliberal networks of communications, users practicing online sharing and piracy defy the traditional logic of commodity exchange. They not only come up with alternative ways to access content without paying, they also make their content accessible without asking for money. It is necessary to acknowledge that these users pay for their digital devices and internet connections in most cases, but their sharing complicates the idea of consuming. The increased ability to copy and circulate content upon digitalization does have an impact on the popularity of these practices. Deeply rooted in the debates about the birth of “prosumers” and “produsers,” which have addressed the blurred boundaries between production and consumption, online sharing and piracy further demonstrate why the cultural studies scholars' concerns about the field's take on consumerism and anti-consumerism are valid. However, the complexity of these practices also reveals that there might be a need to evaluate the possible contributions of the Marxist heritage before abstaining from it. McRobbie's (2008) call for returning to Frankfurt School is relevant here since her article points out to why that return might be useful to understanding consumerism in today's world. Gilbert's (2008) survey of the possibility of pursuing a post-structuralist and post-Marxist direction depicts a similar concern for improving field's capabilities.

This paper aims to use online sharing and piracy to revisit cultural studies' limitations about studying consumerism and anti-consumerism. By looking at the suggestions from within the field, this survey will also attempt to discuss the potential of these direction for offering a stronger analytical framework for studying consumption in the digital age.

Bibliography:

Binkley, S. & Littler, J. (2008). Introduction: Cultural studies and anti-consumerism: a critical encounter. Cultural Studies, 22(5), 519-530.

Gilbert, J. (2008). Against the commodification of everything: Anti-consumerist cultural studies in the age of ecological crisis. Cultural Studies, 22(5), 551-566.

McRobbie, A. (2008). Young women and consumer culture: An intervention.Cultural Studies, 22(5), 531-550.