Consumed: The need for collective change; colonialism, climate change & consumerism

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This book is a great entry-point for folks who haven’t yet, or are very newly considering their position within systems of oppression. The discussion on colonialism was also very disorganized and chaotic purely because it didn't use case studies in a very productive way in my opinion. Additionally, they explore what happens to garments at the end of their life cycle, often finding their way to places like the Kantamanto market. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

Even though I found that her writing felt a bit too discursive for me in certain sections, I think Consumed is a smart and honest attempt at addressing consumerism and its environmental and psychological impacts. In fact, one of her chapters is titled, “How Society Works,” a bold claim, since she doesn’t explicitly disclaim that she’s referring to society in the Global North.The other half passionately advocates for solutions, aiming to inspire positive change in the way the industry operates. From a structural standpoint, Aja could have omitted rhetorical questions and statements like “I couldn’t agree more,” which cheapen the content of the preceding paragraphs. If you're interested in the content I had hoped to see in this book, read Dana Thomas' "Fashionopolis" instead ( my thoughts on that book - if you're curious).

Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. It is a failed opportunity to inform readers about the truth of the fashion world and what we are oblivious to in late-stage capitalism. These corporations spend more on advertising and marketing than they do on the wages of the people that make their exorbitant amount of clothing. Secondly, the writing style is incredible sloppy and most of it reads more like a really aggressive social media post. I thought that Aja's book would be on the level of their Instagram posts - snappy, sharp and approaching the issue comprehensively from all angles.for me, there wasn’t a ton of new information but i was shocked at many data points (only 1% of total material flow through the system is still in use 6 months after its sale, holy shit? It's too bad, considering the damage the fashion industry is doing, the problem deserves better than this. She asks you to confront the sense of lack you have, the feeling that you are never quite enough and the reasons why you fill the aching void with consumption rather than compassion. There really wasn't a lot of scientific evidence to back up claims, rather it was more of a memoir/personal account of changes needed in the fashion industry to reduce waste. For example, Aja feels the need to discuss the validity of vocational schools on page 192—which I agree are an important asset to any functioning society!