The tyranny of the customer and the cost of consumerism: An analysis usingsystems and psychoanalytic approaches to groups and society

This paper argues that an organizational discourse on consumerism is replac ing a prior discourse of dependency. This discourse encourages, and is enco uraged by, economic rationales for behavior and is marked by the collapse o f many complex societal roles into the simpler category of "customer." More over, practices emergent from consumerism and economic rationalism often ac t as organizational and social defences against anxieties about the uncerta inties and changes occurring in a world increasingly dominated by global ma rkets where the customer is "sovereign." Six working hypotheses are propose d to explain the operation of these new social defences. Evidence in suppor t of these hypotheses comes from collaborative action research projects in which the author is involved. The argument moves toward a consideration of the new "consumer-provider pair" which, it is proposed, has become a major signifier within the consumer discourse and which might be considered as a transitional pair in dealing with widespread organizational change.