Definition
Prosumerism refers to a diverse range of processes and practices that involve simultaneous production and consumption. The terms prosumerism and prosumption are often used interchangeably. We could perhaps see the former as an equivalent to an ideological and social system (equivalent to the use of “consumerism”), and the latter as relating more to actual practices (such as how the term “consumption” is used).
Examples of this broad category can include anything from growing your own vegetables and customizing or producing your own clothing to developing and using open-source software and scanning your own produce in a supermarket. Recently, as technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels have become more accessible on a household and community scale, an interest in prosumerism has grown in the field of sustainable energy, whereby people produce and consume (as either households or mediated through community organizations) their own energy (see Energy Consumption Behavior, Sustainable Housing). By examining such activities and social practices, the concept sits in an interesting space at the interface between sustainable consumption and production. It may allow us to avoid the downsides of a focus on individualism, on the one hand, and a focus on technological solutions and green innovation, on the other (see Consumer Scapegoatism).
History
Prosumerism was a neologism coined by the futurist Alvin Toffler in 1980, in his work The New Wave. While the term did not initially gain widespread use or recognition after publication, it has seen a quiet renaissance in recent years. In part, this revival is thanks to the work of the sociologist George Ritzer, who has examined prosumerism across numerous academic texts since 2010. By tracing the rise of prosumerism, Ritzer sketches out a progression from capitalism’s initial focus on production (represented by the predominance of the factory), to its focus on mass consumption in the 20th century (the shopping mall being emblematic here), and finally to what he asserts is today’s “prosumer capitalism” (where the prosumer labors on behalf of capitalist enterprise). In the latter case, prosumerism can be seen in increasingly widespread practices such as customers picking up their orders in fast-food restaurants or when they scan their own items at the checkout in a supermarket.
Different Perspectives
Ritzer has been most interested in how prosumerism creates new forms of capitalist exploitation and profit extraction. Developing his ideas around the “McDonaldization of society”, Ritzer’s work examined how consumers increasingly take up unpaid labor on behalf of corporations: cleaning up after themselves in fast food restaurants, handling the payment process in supermarkets, or creating user-generated media content on corporate-owned blogs or social media, to take just a few examples. This prosumer labor allows companies to earn greater profits than they otherwise would if they were to employ staff or technology to complete these tasks.
While Ritzer and his co-authors focused on the exploitation that prosumerism entails in a profit- and growth-focused economy, other scholars have begun to also examine the potential importance of prosumerism as part of alternative, sustainable, and collective practices. To take just a few examples, the latter has included a focus on repair practices, household and cooperative renewable energy production, and local food prosumerism (see Community Supported Agriculture), freecycling, and commons-based manufacturing (see Convivial Technology, Grassroots Innovation).
This focus on the possibility and potential of sustainable, grassroots prosumerism accords more closely with the original interests of Toffler. Toffler argued, for instance, that transitioning toward prosumerism would have radical social implications. Reimagining the predominance of self-provision which existed in the pre-industrial world, Toffler pointed to the potential for “do-it-for-yourself” to displace practices of “do-it-for-the-market” (Kosnik, 2018: 126). He further noted that “any significant change in the balance between production for use and production for exchange will set off depth charges under our economic system and our values as well” (Toffler, 1980: 296).
A further difference in perspectives relates to the prevalence (or lack thereof) of prosumerism in society. For some, prosumerism is a marginal topic, of limited application in comparison to more popular topics in sustainable consumption. To be of any relevance, prosumer practices would have to “scale up” enormously. For others, however, prosumerism is a spectrum of activities that is already everywhere; it perhaps even comprises the majority of social practice. Any time someone cooks at home, for example, rather than buying ready-made meals or going to a restaurant, they are engaging in a form of prosumerism. Any time someone grows a herb or other edible plant on their windowsill, they are engaging in a small act of prosumerism. Any time a product is altered or repaired by its user, there exists an opening for prosumerism. As such, autonomous production and consumption have not disappeared with the advent of industrialism but have merely changed form.
Application
Today, facing a need to radically rethink systems of production and consumption, interest is growing in circular and post-growth alternatives to the status quo (see Degrowth, Circular Economy and Society). Prosumerism could be of high relevance and interest at this juncture and has been emerging in forms that are grassroots-based and not profit-oriented. Rather than being appropriated by private corporations and shareholders, the proceeds from collective prosumer initiatives can be funneled back into initiatives for social and ecological benefit. As such, prosumerism can provide the ground for a deep form of economic democracy (see Eco-Communities, Alternative Consumer Cooperatives).
At their best, prosumer activities and networks can allow greater participation and ownership in the construction of sustainable lives. They allow people to address issues of direct concern to their lives, such as energy poverty, waste production, food sovereignty, and much more. As energy cooperatives expand, for instance, this aspect is more visible than ever. Community supported agriculture (CSA) could also be seen as relevant in this context. While often structured in a way that maintains a functional distinction between consumers and producers, CSAs also bring consumers into the decisions around what is produced and how and tend to integrate “consumers” into work days and other practical parts of the production process. With this, we can see how prosumerism can lead to a collective co-construction of both supply and demand, meeting needs while avoiding the radical and unsustainable over-production that exists with capitalism.
While a prosumer cooperative or other initiative may start as a way to meet basic needs in energy or food, it can quickly also serve as a crucible of education for democratic governance and a space for engaging with neighbors and other communities. For this reason, some governments and policymakers have begun to incentivize energy coops and other prosumer forms, through local, national, and supranational legislation.
Further Reading
Kosnik, E. (2018). Production for consumption: Prosumer, citizen-consumer, and ethical consumption in a postgrowth context. Economic Anthropology, 5(1), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12107.
Ritzer, G., & Jurgenson, N. (2010). Production, consumption, prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’. Journal of Consumer Culture, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540509354673.
Toffler, A. (1980). The third wave. New York: William Morrow.
Veen, E.J., Dagevos, H., & Jansma, J.E. (2021). Pragmatic prosumption: Searching for food prosumers in the Netherlands. Sociologia Ruralisi, 61(1), 255–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12323.
Wittmayer, J.M., Campos, I., Avelino, F., Brown, D., Doračić, B., Fraaije, M., Gährs, S., Hinsch, A., Assalini, S., Becker, T., Marín-González, E., Holstenkamp, L., Bedoić, R., Duić, N., Oxenaar, S., & Pukšec, T. (2022). Thinking, doing, organising: Prefiguring just and sustainable energy systems via collective prosumer ecosystems in Europe. Energy Research and Social Science, 86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102425