|
|
|
|
|
VIDEO INFORMATION |
VHS:
Not Available
DVD:
In Stock
Not available in VHS format.
|
|
VHS:
N/A
DVD:
32 min. plus 5 minutes of additional material.
Colleges and Universities
$250.00
High Schools and Non-Profits
$125.00
Home Use Only?
Click Here
|
|
|
|
Reviews and Comments
"In The Overspent American, Juliet Schor ties it all together--over-consumption, debt, overwork, inequality, environmental
degradation, and the other high costs of our over-spending culture. Broad in
scope, but filled with powerful specifics, this video is a perfect college, church, high school or community group discussion-starter about a social problem that Americans ignore at their peril."
John de Graaf | Co-producer, Affluenza and Escape from Affluenza
"A careful and lively dissection of disturbing social trends. The video
challenges viewers to rethink the meaning and value of consumption in a
society dangerously dependent on overconsumption."
Lawrence Glickman | Author, A Living Wage: American Workers and the Making of Consumer Society
"With this video, students will understand why we spend beyond our means, the personal and social consequences of overspending and what they can do about it before they are burdened by debilitating debt."
Nina Huntemann | Associate Professor, Suffolk University
"If you're among the millions of Americans who are spending more than you can comfortably afford, you're sure to profit from Juliet Schor's insightful account of American spending paterns. Skip your next latte or two and buy this excellent video."
Robert Frank | Author, The Winner-Take-All Society
|
|
|
|
The Overspent American
Why We Want What We Don't Need
(2004)
View the trailer for this film on You Tube! Click Here
In this section:
Summary
Logistical Information
Biographical Summary
Reviews and Comments
Screenings and Festivals
Articles
Summary:
In this powerful new video, Juliet Schor scrutinizes what she calls "the new consumerism"--a national phenomenon of upscale spending that is shaped and reinforced by a commercially-driven media system. She argues that "keeping up with the Joneses" is no longer enough for middle and upper-middle class Americans, many of whom become burdened with debilitating debt as they seek to emulate materialistic TV lifestyles.
Drawing on her academic research, Schor explains the cultural forces that cause Americans to work longer hours and spend more than they can afford in order to participate in a consumption competition with others. The video illustrates with numerous examples how more and more products are being used as social communicators to demonstrate material success. The Overspent American challenges the inevitability of the consumer lifestyle by proposing alternatives to the work and spend cycle that has so many Americans feeling trapped and unfulfilled. The video draws attention to--and ultimately raises serious questions about--the costs (both financial and societal) of relentlessly searching for happiness and identity through consumption.
Sections: The Cycle of Work and Spend/ The Stretching of Reference Groups/ The Visible Lifestyle/ The Costs of Overspending/ Getting Off the Consumer Escalator
Logistical Information:
Producer & Editor: Kelly Garner
Executive Producers: Loretta Alper & Sut Jhally
Biographical Summary:
Juliet Schor, a professor of Sociology at Boston College, is the author of The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure and The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer. She has co-edited The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the Postwar Experience, The Consumer Society Reader, and Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the 21st Century. Her research over the last ten years has focussed on issues pertaining to trends in work and leisure, consumerism, the relationship between work and family, women's issues and economic justice. Currently, she is working on a project dealing with the commercialization of childhood. She is also a board member and co-founder of the Center for a New American Dream.
Screenings and Festivals:
N/A
Articles:
N/A
|
|
