Protecting Children from the
Violence of Consumerism
SUE L. T. MCGREGOR PHD PROFESSOR
MOUNT SAINT VINCENT UNIVERSITY
SUE.MCGREGOR@MSVU.CA
WWW.CONSULTMCGREGOR.COM
PANEL DISCUSSION AT
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER COURSE ON THE
RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
UNIVERSITÉ DE MONCTON
MONCTON NB CANADA
JULY 2013
Article 19 of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, with emphasis
 Article 19 states children have “the right to
protection from all forms of physical and mental
violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation... while
in the care of parent(s), legal guardians (s) or any
other person who has the care of the child. Such
protective measures should, as appropriate,
include effective procedures for the
establishment of social programmes to
provide necessary support for the child and for
those who have the care of the child...” (UN, 1989,
p. 7, emphasis added).
Revised Article 19 for consumerism as a
form of structural violence
 Children have the right to protection from the
structural violence of a consumer culture
and the ideology of consumerism while in
the care of parent(s), legal guardians (s) or any
other person who has the care of the child
(especially their teachers and educators).
Such protective measures include curricula
focused on a critical pedagogy of peace, justice and
non-violence to provide the necessary support for
the child (consumer and labourer) and for those
who have the care of the child.
Consumerism versus consumption
Consumerism is
an ideology
Consumption is behaviour
informed by the ideology
 “a set of beliefs and values, integral
but not exclusive to the system of
capitalist globalization, intended to
make people believe that human worth
is best ensured and happiness is best
achieved in terms of our consumption
and possessions.”
 Consumerism is "economically
manifested in the chronic purchasing
of goods and services, with little
attention to their true need, durability,
origin of the product or the
environmental consequences of
manufacture, [usage] and disposal."
As a concept,
structural violence
strives to account for
the injustice,
marginalization,
exploitation,
oppression,
discrimination and
other social ills that
exist because of the
way society has
organized itself.
Structural violence is
almost invisible,
embedded in the
ubiquitous social
structures, and
normalized by stable,
enabling institutions
and by people’s
regular experiences
and patterns of living.
Consumerism is a form
of structural violence
Features of Structural Violence
 Institutions and policies are designed in such a way
that barriers are built into society leading to some
people being harmed due to no action of their own.
 Because these social inequities are longstanding,
they usually seem ordinary, the way things are
done, and always have been; hence, they go
unchallenged.
 The results are unequal power and unequal life
chances. Structural violence leads to social
inequalities, injustice, insecurity and infringement
on human rights.
Example of Structural Violence
School is out at 3PM or
earlier
Parents (guardians) are
working until at least 5PM
Huge time gap!
Consumerism as Structural Violence
 Consumption has become the cornerstone
of most people’s daily lives - it is a social
institution, defining daily patterns of
living.
 It is almost impossible to buy a product
without harming others, other species
and/or the environment...
 BECAUSE….. of structure of the global
economy and the consumer marketplace
(product and service development,
packaging, marketing, advertising,
distribution chains, retailing).
More on consumerism as structural violence
It is unthinkable for most
people that they are
perpetuating the onslaught of
human rights infringements,
war, injustice, inner turmoil or
ecological destruction when all
they do is….
Unpeaceful consumption
Consumerism as structural violence
 Who would have thought these innocuous,
mundane purchases were underpinned by
structural violence?
 But, they are.
 The labour behind the product or service,
the intensity and externalities of
production processes and the end-chain
disposal issues create injustices around the
world – especially for children!
 There are close to 2 Billion children. 215
million are child labourers while the
world’s affluent children (3% of all the
world’s consumers) spend upwards of
$1.18US TRILLION a year
Children as consumers and labourers both need to
be protected from the violence of the
consumerism ideology
Children as consumers
Children as labourers


Children as consumers and labourers both need to
be protected from the consumerism
Children as consumers
 are very vulnerable because
their cognitive processing
skills are not fully developed.
Their critical thinking,
reasoned judgements,
resistance to persuasion and
manipulation, and ability to
assign appropriate meanings
to messages emanating from
the marketplace are in
question, and usually
deficient
Children as labourers
 are very vulnerable
because they engage in
work that deprives them
of their childhood,
interferes with their
ability to attend regular
school, deprives them of
their potential and
dignity, and is mentally,
physically, socially or
morally dangerous and
harmful
This paper focuses on the children doing the consuming, in
hopes that their changed behaviour will have positive outcomes
for the children labouring to produce goods and services.
 In a consumer culture, people are
so indoctrinated into the logic of
the market that they cannot see
anything wrong with what they are
doing.
 Because they do not (or cannot)
critically challenge the market
ideology and the myth of
consumerism, they actually
contribute to their own oppression
(i.e., become slaves of the market),
as well as the oppression of others.
Turning on Cognitive Skills
 In order for children to
“see” how their
consumer behaviour is oppressive and
exploitive, and to appreciate the structural
violence shaping their daily lives as
consumers, their cognitive skills need to be
turned on and honed.
 Aside from their parents or guardians, who
help socialize children to be consumers, the
best persons for the task of enhancing critical
cognitive skills are their teachers (critical
thinking, rhetoric and argumentation,
dialogue, debate and deliberation, as
well as values reasoning)
Steeped in a consumer culture
 AND – in order for educators to best embrace
this task, they have to understand the challenges
of educating for human rights and peace within
a consumer society, which has market values at
its core: competition, scarcity, materialism,
wealth and profit, self-interest, efficiency,
growth
 Youth and educators are BOTH steeped in this
consumer culture. Once something is infused
into something else, it is almost impossible to
separate them again (like tea steeped in water).
 What is needed is a new infusion; students need
to be steeped in a culture of peace, and as early
as possible! The steeping process enables
something to release its active ingredients.
Culture of Peace, Non-violence and
Human Rights active ingredients
 Everyday attitude of non-violence
 Fierce determination to defend human rights and human

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
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dignity
Hope, persistence, solidarity, inclusiveness and morality will
be the norm
Principles of tolerance, open mindedness, sustainability,
participation and democracy are paramount
A global awareness and perspective, cooperation and a deep
respect for interdependency are key features
Responsibility and accountability are central values
Mutual support, empathetic listening and unwavering respect
Ongoing, rigorous critique of the ideological status quo (e.g.,
consumerism)
The well-being of all citizens come before the self interest of
the few
Role of Educators
Children and educators are
steeped in a cacophony of
consumer culture messages

Need to be liberated from this
‘noise’ via critical education

Protecting Both Spenders and Labourers
 In the spirit of Article 19,
 With refined cognitive skills, the
educators need to accept that
youth doing the spending can crawl
consumerism is a form of
out from under the oppression of
structural violence and then
the consumer culture, and challenge
balance their curricula and
the ideology of consumerism with
pedagogy with insights from a
alternative perspectives.
culture of peace and non They will then ‘spend differently’
violence.
such that the youth making the
 Educators also need to focus
consumer products (child
on educating the parents and
labourers) are less likely to
the guardians of the vagaries
experience the fallout of the violence
of the consumer culture so
of consumerism.
they can bring a different
 All children could then be protected
perspective to their role as
from the insidious, ubiquitous
consumer socialization agents
violence of capitalistic consumerism
for their children.
by being infused with the principles
of a culture of peace.
Revised Article 19 for consumerism
 Children have the right to protection from the
structural violence of a consumer culture
and the ideology of consumerism while in the
care of parent(s), legal guardians (s) or any other
person who has the care of the child (especially
their teachers and educators). Such protective
measures include curricula focused on a critical
pedagogy of peace, justice and non-violence to
provide the necessary support for the child (spender
and labourer) and for those who have the care of the
child.
Protecting ALL Children from
the Violence of Consumerism