This assignment, ICS 392 – Consumer Culture, about minimalism and its recent rise in cultural prominence. Minimalism connects with a lot of different things we’ve covered this quarter, starting with content from week #1 and running through week #9. There are a lot of different opinions about minimalism: what it means, how it works, what it can do and for whom it can do it. As a result, there are a lot of different directions you could take your argument in this essay.

Professor Albert Muniz

Assignment #2 – Minimalism

This assignment, ICS 392 – Consumer Culture, about minimalism and its recent rise in cultural prominence. Minimalism connects with a lot of different things we’ve covered this quarter, starting with content from week #1 and running through week #9. There are a lot of different opinions about minimalism: what it means, how it works, what it can do and for whom it can do it. As a result, there are a lot of different directions you could take your argument in this essay.

The important thing is that you actually have to spend some time and methodically think about minimalism in light of course content. The bad news: you won’t be able to crank this out in one sitting. The good news: if you’ve been paying attention at all and have done at least half of the reading, you’re going to have a surplus of ideas while you read and ponder the following readings. The subsequent lists contain readings on minimalism, both pro and con/skeptical, as well as some readings for context.

ICS 392 – Consumer Culture

ICS 392 – Consumer Culture

Here is a list of articles on minimalism in consumption.

Pro minimalism:

1) “Living With Less. A Lot Less,” by Graham Hill, New York Times, March 9, 2013:

2) and Hill’s blog: http://lifeedited.com.

3) “How I Became a Minimalist (Why I Choose to Live with Less),” by Jennifer, Simply Fierece.com, September 5, 2015:

4) “’The Joy of Less’ is the best minimalism book I’ve read,” Katherine Martinko, Treehugger.com, April 27, 2017:

5) “I Tried Minimalism for a Week,” BuzzFeed videos, July 1, 2017:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PDlf8mPMh8.

6) “Top 8 Benefits of Living a Minimalist Lifestyle,” by Tina Williamson, Lifehack.com, August 31, 2018:

7) Becoming Minimalist, a blog by Joshua Becker:

8) “Have we got minimalism all wrong?,” by Beverly D’Silva, BBC, March 30, 2021.

Con/skeptical of minimalism:

1) “Marie Kondo and the Privilege of Clutter,” by Arielle Bernstein, the Atlantic, March 25, 2016:

2) “The Oppressive Gospel of ‘Minimalism,’” by Kyle Chayka, New York Times, July 26, 2016:

3) “Minimalism: another boring product wealthy people can buy,” by Chelsea Fagan, The Guardian, March 4, 2017:

4) “Minimalism is Overrated: How I Learned to Love a Little Clutter,” By Michelle Slatalla, The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2018:

5) Mull, Amanda (2020), “The End of Minimalism,” from the Atlantic, July/August 2020.

In addition to writings on minimalism, there are some adjacent/related/analogous concepts that are culturally significant. These include things like tiny houses, downshifting and voluntary simplicity.

Your assignment: read all of the above. In two-thousand words (give or take), try to discern what is going on with this movement and make connections to course content. Use course content to support your argument. In other words, use course content to validate and support your arguments, interpretations and positions. Make sense of minimalism using what you have learned in this course. Is minimalism the answer? What exactly is the problem? Is minimalism just another problem? Are the proponents of minimalism right? Are the critics of minimalism right? Are they both right and both wrong? Will this movement catch on? Do you plan to use it? Why or why not?

Interpret what you read and what you see, using class readings, videos, lectures and discussions to inform your thinking. This is important: you must use course content to validate and support your arguments, interpretations and positions. Draw from the content from the class to interpret and explain these readings. Formulate an argument and integrate your thoughts into a cohesive and coherent essay. This is also important: Make sure you clearly and thoroughly explain the significance of and the connection to any course content you cite/use.

There are lots of connections to make to lots of different ideas, concepts and frameworks from this class. Stuff. Mountains of things. Over-stuffed closets. Taste. Status (all forms and its evolution). Clothing and fashion. Brands. Identity. Meaning. How we buy. Donations and used clothes.

Much that we have covered is germane to this exercise and there is no one right answer. This is where you can tell me what you think about consumer culture and why. Has this class changed the way you consume or think about consuming?

You can work on this project alone or in groups of up to three people. That is entirely your choice. Naturally, I will be expecting a ~little~ more from groups than solo work. Last Fall, the work on this particular assignment ranged from good to great to the truly astounding. Students got into it. Allow yourself to have a little fun with this.

At the bottom of the paper, list the number of words in the document. The word count does not include references, or any other appendices you might want (but don’t have) to include.

Must be submitted via Digital Dropbox in D2L. If you work as group, you only need to submit one copy, but there are a few guidelines for submitting group work. First, have the student whose last name appears first alphabetically submit the paper. Second, list all student names (alphabetized by last name) in the D2L Dropbox submission form. Third, list all student names (alphabetized by last name) on the title page of the document.