Consumed: On Colonialism, Climate Change, Consumerism, and the Need for Collective Change by Aja Barber

Consumed: On Colonialism, Climate Change, Consumerism, and the Need for Collective Change Reviews

• 
  Aja

  Is it poor taste to say your own book is actually quite alright if you do say so yourself? Probably. But taste is one of those concepts that simply depends on the person you ask.
• 
  Romany

  You like fast fashion. You buy too much. You stumble over Aja Barber on Instagram and buy this book. All of a sudden, you’re a climate activist, fighting for the rights of garment workers in countries you’ve never heard of, let alone visited.
• 
  Sabrina

  1 Star. DNF’ed.
  
  This is a genuinely bad book, and I don’t say that lightly, but for a non fiction title covering such broad and significant topics, this is an awful attempt.
  
  Firstly, not a single source throughout the whole book? The only time a source is referenced, it’s jus the occasional in line citation to a recent internet article. It’s a pretty poor effort and I have no idea how this got published WITHOUT A SINGLE REFERENCE?
  
  Secondly, the writing style is incredible sloppy and most of it reads more like a really aggressive social media post. I would admire the attempt at trying to make such large subjects more accessible, however it just comes across as really lazy and uninformed writing.
  
  An example of this comes on page 68:
  
  “Essentially these big companies want to come to Kantamanto, take the waste which is polluting neighbourhoods for next to nothing, put it into a blender to melt the materials down into new materials (this is a very simplified definition....no one @ me.)”
  
  What??? Where was the editor on this....the author constantly makes huge sweeping generalisations without backing it up in any way and constantly presents her own opinion as fact.
  
  I will say this: the author does a good job at recognising the systematic problems and linkages between fashion and environmental disaster, however her critical abilities never go beyond that (especially in her “solutions” which amount to....give more money to people?)
  
  Ultimately a huge disappointment. It reads, sounds, and feels like a very long Instagram post, and not in a fun or interesting way. My low rating is also how dangerous it is to present information so poorly. The information here is not informative, opinion is treated as fact, and I would be generally wary of any author or editor who doesn’t see a problem with providing no evidence to any of the claims made throughout the novel.
  
  (And if, like me, you were disappointed by this and you're looking for a book around consumption and environmentalism, go read the much more refined No Logo by Naomi Klein.)
• 
  Elizabeth K

  Wow, this book really needed an editor. The writing is sloppy and both individual chapters and the book as a whole are poorly organized. This added to overall disappointment: The subtitle and some of the recommendations lead me to expect a deeper analysis. I learned very little from this book.
• 
  Hannah

  Consumed was the first book I ever pre-ordered, and I was thrilled when I received it in the mail. I had been following Aja’s work on Instagram for years and was impressed with her informational—albeit informal—fast fashion presentation for the Slow Factory’s Open Education program this year. She has a talent for distilling complicated environmental and fashion concepts for a layman’s audience. However, Consumed makes bold, generalized claims—often lacking citations—and is poorly structured to the extent that crucial sections get lost in her asides and redundant platitudes. Perhaps this is a failure on the part of Grand Central Publishing, who didn’t provide Aja with an editor? Regardless, Consumed misses the mark, as its shortcomings eclipse some of the most important discussions in the book: the impact of textile waste in Ghana's Kantamanto Market, Anannya Bhattacharjee’s take on labor rights for garment workers in Asia, and Aja’s tips on how to get off the hedonistic capitalist treadmill as a Global North consumer.
  
  Aja makes many blanket statements in Consumed. In fact, one of her chapters is titled, “How Society Works,” a bold claim, since she doesn’t explicitly disclaim that she’s referring to society in the Global North. Additionally, she argues that “wealth inequality is at its widest gap ever” on page 118, and “planned obsolescence is a trick as old as time” without providing any statistics to back up either claim. I think that the former statement can be supported with evidence while the latter…not so much (I’m pretty sure that planned obsolescence has only existed for the past 100 years or so.) I was also shocked that Aja cited Wikipedia multiple times in her book, providing definitions of “gender binary” on page 128-129, and “greenwashing” on page 160. Wikipedia is inconsistent at best, so Aja should have referred to more established sources here. Additionally, on page 204, Aja discusses a process by which a hypothetical Walmart moves into a small town and destroys the local economy—a phenomenon that I have definitely read about—but does not point to any real-life instance where this process took place. These are only a few examples of this greater pattern of hyperbole, which can be easily substantiated with deliberate research and citations.
  
  From a structural standpoint, Aja could have omitted rhetorical questions and statements like “I couldn’t agree more,” which cheapen the content of the preceding paragraphs. Aja tries to squeeze as many of her thoughts as possible into this book, but this method does not work in her favor. For example, Aja feels the need to discuss the validity of vocational schools on page 192—which I agree are an important asset to any functioning society!— but uses up valuable real estate in her section about conspicuous consumption. On the flip side, I enjoyed her “Ways to Learn Actively” section on page 184-187, which serves as a template of how the whole book could have been organized, providing concrete, easy-to-follow tips on how to become a more conscious consumer. And it was only 3 pages!
  
  I think that Aja can employ a few strategies for future books. For one, footnotes! Footnotes (especially à la Junot Díaz in The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao) can be incredibly useful here, since Aja provides a lot of personal commentary in her work. That way, readers can absorb key facts and information more easily, and can refer to whatever primary source she cites. From an organizational and educational standpoint, I think that Aja can move the Urge/Purge exercises to a Discussion Questions section at the end of the book. And of course, she needs a bibliography to substantiate her claims.
  
  Despite my criticisms, Aja’s work as a plus-sized, Black, sustainable fashion advocate cannot be underestimated, and I hope that her future work continues to positively influence her readers.
• 
  Mari

  
  4.5 stars
  
  This was great! There was a lot here that I feel like I was exposed to in terms of the impact of fast fashion, but this was pretty comprehensive, very well articulated, accessible, and I absolutely loved how Barber kept tying everything back to Colonialism. It made everything she shared very impactful and I just know this will change my buying habits and the questions I ask myself before I purchase. This is definitely something I think everyone should read.
• 
  Philip

  Sorry, this book is neither even marginally well-written, nor does it do what I had hoped for. As some other reviewers have mentioned, it reads as an obnoxiously long social media post that's practically overflowing with conflating and often contradictory arguments (all of them unsupported).
  
  And, like too many such posts, Barber specifically says that if you don't agree with her, you just aren't ready to listen or haven't "done the work." All the while simultaneously - and explicitly - telling the reader that she's not interested in other perspectives or interpretations. Lovely that.
  
  It's too bad, considering the damage the fashion industry is doing, the problem deserves better than this. If you're interested in the content I had hoped to see in this book, read
  Dana Thomas' "Fashionopolis" instead (
  my thoughts on that book - if you're curious).
  
  As for "Consumed," yeah, don't consume this one...
• 
  Momina

  If you are aged between 13 and 16 years of age and are just learning about the unjust systems of wealth inequality, colonialism and the extractive and harmful practices of consumerism fuelled by late capitalism please you’re the audience I would recommend this book for. Call me a snob, but this is not how you write a book. No references, blanket statements with a narrative voice that’s like a rant on Instagram, commentary that could have done with editing to avoid repetition all - for me - made it insufferable to read.
• 
  Jordan Santos

  I’ve been following Aja for a while on Instagram and Twitter and have learned so much from her and admire her a lot, which is why I couldn’t wait to read this book, which I pre-ordered as soon as it was announced.
  
  I think this is a great book for people like me — those who have used consumption to fill a void, who used to pride themselves in not wearing the same thing twice, who was led to believe that the more you have, the better you are. As someone who works in the social media / fashion world, it definitely was a wake up call to the ways I perpetuate consumerism.
  
  It’s a good introduction on consumption, especially when it comes to fast fashion, and I think it’s a must read for anyone who finds happiness in clicking the buy button.
  
  While I enjoy her witty comments on social media, I do think it did the book a disservice as a whole, as it was a bit distracting with the serious topics at hand. While I wish the content was a bit more organized and backed up with more sources and statistics, I think the format is perfect for someone who is learning about climate change and consumption for the first time. It’s definitely approachable and digestible in that way.
• 
  Claire

  I read this as part of a book club discussion about the horrible sprawling impacts the fast fashion industry has had on the world, and because I was really interested in Aja Barber's work and perspectives. Maybe it was just me already being familiar with many of the topics discussed and how they relate to one another (as a lefty environmental studies grad student), but I felt like I didn't learn much from this book. It was very surface-level, repetitive, and scattered, which made it extremely difficult to actually process the information. Maybe it's a reflection of how much target audiences' attention spans have disintegrated over the past decade. Or maybe whoever was assigned to edit this "book" (extended rant) didn't actually do their job.
  
  On the bright side, this extended rant has inspired me to seek out other books on consumerism, colonialism, and the climate crisis, and to check out the work of the many activists mentioned throughout. I give it one star for voice/passion, and another for inciting rage (though much of my rage stemmed from struggling with the atrocious lack of organization), because I can at least direct this rage towards burning down our capitalist hellscape.
• 
  Jane

  'Consumed' landed on my doorstep on Saturday and I couldn't put it down. Aja Barber writes engagingly about the mechanisms of fast fashion, their roots in colonialism and racism, the appalling waste and exploitation of workers, the western world's attitude to consumption and the harm it causes. She is direct and honest throughout, and her tone feels rousing and encouraging. I love that she targets systems rather than individuals. While she makes it clear we as individuals have power and influence, and calls on us to be acutely aware of our privileges, she doesn't blame us unduly for the way things are and motivates us to fight systems and organisations. She defends a socialist model, which I love - a state of being where we recognise that we have enough and treasure our possessions. More wouldn't make us happy. This book is full of common sense, compassion and humanity, gives you plenty to reflect on, and will surely lead to welcome change. Read it!
• 
  Grace Richards

  This book had some really great points in it and a few things I was grateful to learn about that I hadn't come across before, but I don't think I'm the target audience for this. It was a bit too instagrammy for me? Maybe it would be a great intro to fast fashion/intersectionality/consumerism/capitalism for a teen or someone who was wanting to know more about it in a very accessible way. I liked the illustrations and the physical book is beautiful, but also felt like the structure was a little disjointed, and although the personal anecdotes were helpful in some places, I thought they were way overdone. Ngl I flicked through a fair amount... 😬 (But! I'm gonna take my broken shoes to a cobblers now, so that is a positive ok!)
• 
  Kristyn Pittman

  If you’re ordering from Shein, have the Amazon app at your fingertips, or you take bags of clothes to “donate”, this is required reading. Aja Barber lays out the reality of this level of consumption and how it effects the garment workers and planet as a whole.
  
  Fast fashion combined with social media is an intoxicating combination. Influencer culture has so many of us trapped in a cycle of buy buy buy. This book really helped me to see how I AM part of the problem, but I can also be part of the solution.
• 
  Morgan Rohbock

  5⭐ on 🎧
  
  Hands down the best nonfiction book I've read since Wordslut!! (Wordslut is my nonfiction gold standard FYI.)
  
  If you enjoy shopping and care about the environment, I think this book will change how you think about shopping--both why we do it and how it impacts the world. Even if you're not a huge shopper, this book will probably make you rethink where you shop and how you rewear and reuse stuff.
  
  I wouldn't call myself a huge shopper but I am someone who goes to Target just for fun and I totally get sucked into clothing stores' "50% off today only!" sales. Aja Barber breaks down how companies use flash sales, factory and outlet stores and advertising to convince consumers to continue to buy clothes. Our culture has literally made it weird to rewear stuff too frequently or too often.
  
  But as Aja shares in this book, the consumption of clothing has created other problems. From microplastics to underpaid garment workers to millions of "donated" clothes fillings dumps in Ghana, we have created a systemic problem. Maybe this isn't news to everyone, but I definitely didn't know the scale of the problem until now. It's too easy to dismiss this problem when we really do need a call to action to help be more sustainable.
  
  I learned so much from this book. It is an absolute must read. I loved Aja provided concrete actions on how to go initiate change and I look forward to seeing how I can adjust my habits to help reduce my consumption.
• 
  Brooke

  I had such high hopes for this book and it started out pretty good, but as it went on, it felt repetitive and a little messy? I feel like Barber tried to tackle too many topics, without going deep enough into any of them.
• 
  Queereviews - Una mirada Queer

  Aja Barber dives into the interconnected topics of fashion, colonialism, climate change, consumerism (and even unpaid internships!)
  
  I think this book is great for people who are new to the topic and are keen to learn more. I do hope she writes more books covering every single topic in more detail!
  
  If I ever hear someone saying “we give them jobs”, “fashion brands are trying”, “oh look they made a video with a couple of queer people” I will just throw them this book at their faces!! 😡
  
  -what sort of labour do we value in society?
  - who gets to immigrate for work opportunities?
  - colonialism is present in the fashion industry: takes resources away, exploits workers, sends back clothes..
  -80 pe cent of garment workers are women
  - althought the form has changed colonialism continues today: we extract value taking this value to the colonizing country
  
  Quote:
  “A brand’s corporate responsibility is only as effective as the most marginalized member of their supply chain says it is”
• 
  Emily

  There really wasn't a lot of scientific evidence to back up claims, rather it was more of a memoir/personal account of changes needed in the fashion industry to reduce waste. Basically the argument is just "don't buy fast fashion". It didn't really teach me anything new, except for Chapter 2 on modern day colonialism which was an interesting take and the landfills Ghana full of our clothes.
• 
  Sarah Dennis

  This book is a great entry-point for folks who haven’t yet, or are very newly considering their position within systems of oppression. Consumption and participation within the fast-fashion cycles is the mechanism to get people to think more critically about their responsibility to others and the planet, but it goes much deeper beyond fashion and environmentalism.
• 
  Grace

  4.5 rounded down
  
  I've been follow Aja on instagram for a while now and when I saw she was coming out with a book, it immediately went on my list! I think this makes for a great introductory read when it comes to the need to curtail consumption, particularly the effects of the fashion industry as a human rights and environmental issue. It doesn't necessarily get super deep on all the topics it covers, but I didn't necessarily expect it to. I do wish there'd been a bit more about what we can do beyond taking a look at our own consumption and writing letters to companies/politicians, but I'm glad to have read it and would definitely recommend!
• 
  reilly

  there’s some good information in here but it’s really mixed up in unnecessary digressions that the author makes constantly about her personal experiences and social justice etc. just poorly organized overall, but I get where she’s going.
• 
  Britta Galanis

  CAPITALISM, CAPITALISM, BILLIONAIRES, CLIMATE CHANGE, THE ONE PERCENT. Things I yell in my sleep.
• 
  Angela

  - The prose was easy to read
  - I think everyone should read this book
  - If you do, pls discuss with me
• 
  Courtney

  If you ever wanted to express to someone how capitalism and the false belief in endless growth is completely destroying the environment, the world and people but have never had the articulate language or the handy statistics to prove your point, this is the book that you buy that someone. Aja Barber has written an eloquent manifesto with a focus on fast fashion on how corporations see the public as consumers and their enormous greed.
  
  Capitalism requires a certain amount of exploitation to be feasible and it's done this by tapping into existing structures of colonialism. Exploiting poorer countries with high populations of colour. These corporations spend more on advertising and marketing than they do on the wages of the people that make their exorbitant amount of clothing. They target countries with lax labour laws, with poor safety and where they can save as much money as possible to inflate their profit margins. It's disgusting. Fast fashion is deeply rooted in racism. And that's not to say what happens to the environment around these production centres, it is horrific exploitation on every level. The people. The community. The environment. The resources.
  
  And as consumers we are encouraged to not question this. In fact, Barber uses examples from the early days of the pandemic. Governments encouraging the people to go out and spend. To consume. To idk themselves and others because the economy is king.
  
  This book will make you examine your own consumption. What are you buying and why are you buying it. It dismantles the myths of greenwashing and sustainability lauded by these companies in vain attempts to appease its consumer base. It's an excellent read. With accessible language and easily digestible language. You've got a friend who does five hundred dollar Shein hauls? Buy them this book and make them read it.
  
  
• 
  Alison

  I can’t believe this book doesn’t have more reviews. It’s excellent. I am no doubt the target demographic for it, but I really think anyone could takeaway tangible goals and lessons from it.
  
  I appreciated that Aja doesn’t berate the reader (like I find a lot of how-to/self-help/social-commentary books tend to do) but instead guides you towards reframing your consumption in a way that makes you actually want to do the work.
• 
  Diana B.

  Love Aja Barber!! She is an amazing role model and is doing great work for people and our planet. I am so happy she wrote this book and hope that everyone gets a chance to read it. Follow her on IG!
  
  Aja does a great job covering all of the topics surrounding consumerism - its not just about buying fast fashion or climate change. Its about racism, classism, sexism, poverty, mental health, human rights.. she truly educates the reader on all of the ways that consumerism has changed society and how toxic it truly is. Its easy to be passive when you hear things about climate change because it doesn’t feel like it affects you or to accept that a horribly abusive fashion brand has decided to “go green” lol… BUT the purchases we make and resources we waste are 1000% killing people every single day and for what? For that new trendy shirt that you’ll wear one time for insta? … that ain’t it.
  
  She also gives great advice on how we can do better and really simple tips and tricks to avoid adding to the problem.
  
  This book highlights how human beings in western society MUST change in order to transform our planet.
  
  
• 
  Catherine

  SUCH A GOOD BOOK! (FYI I listened to the Audiobook).
  
  Aja’s narration is brilliant. Funny, insightful and often rightfully critical. You don’t have to be interested in fashion to read this - the book covers Aja’s own experience working in the fashion industry, as well as issues of wage poverty, sustainability, colonialism and racism. The main points I’ve taken away:
  
  - donating clothes to charity isn’t a solution after you’ve over-consumed, as these items often end up with a huge carbon footprint and get shipped off to other countries to become someone else’s problem
  
  - before you buy an item of clothing it’s good to ask yourself: will I wear this 100 times? If not, don’t buy it!
  
  - it’s better to invest in better quality clothes IF YOU CAN. Not everyone has the resources to be buy fewer pricier items and get stuck in a cycle of buying cheaper items more often because they break
  
  - sustainability isn’t about buying sustainable items. It’s about being sustainable with what you already have! Swap clothes with friends, buy second hand, learn how to mend.
• 
  Camille Velten

  Part 1
  I think this book is so well written. She really explains the concepts of colonialism and over consumption in terms that both someone well-versed in the subject could understand and someone who has never heard of fast fashion / these concepts could understand. I like her personal antidotes and how she ties in both her stories with the more informative aspects and facts, numbers, and statistics of the fast fashion industry. I think the balance this provides makes for a really great writing and a really riveting and informative story.
  
  
  Part 2
  In this part the importance was placed on having less stuff, on containing less and consuming more mindfully. Finding the worth around you and within you. Aja has given us, the readers, very tangible actions and solutions that we can carry out as consumers and citizens to create real change. It is important to realize Sustainability isn’t about buying the newest most sustainable product but about using what you already have. We need to focus on de-growth not capitalism and just having less stuff overall.
  
  I loved reading this book so much. I put all my little thoughts and notes in the margins and I’m very excited to pass it on to my friends and see what they think and what they write in the margins. Here’s to tackling climate change, capitalism, consumerism and working towards a more environmentally friendly equitable world for all!
• 
  Indira

  This is a fantastic book that’s so relevant in this day and age. Prior to reading this book, I understood that fast fashion was a problem, but I didn’t quite understand how much of a problem and how it relates to other issues like colonialism. Aja Barber makes a great case for why and how consumerism and fast fashion is destroying the planet, and she does it in such a helpful and easy to understand way.
  
  My biggest critique is that some parts are repetitive and could have definitely been cut down, but considering it’s not a super long book to begin with, and how easily digestible it is, I don’t think it necessarily gets in the way of this becoming a great book and one I’d recommend to everyone.
  
  If you’re a young adult with spending power (or if you want to learn more about consumerist culture), read this!
• 
  Alex

  If you're familiar with Aja's Instagram but not overly familiar with many of the topics she discusses about, both there and here, I think you'll learn a lot. (For me personally, this felt a lot like preaching to the choir as much of my undergrad was spent discussing these things at length).
  
  This is a wonderful introduction to topics of sustainability, capitalism, colonialism, and how these are intertwined and benefit from that nuanced understanding, not existing in silos or vacuums. Barber references and directs readers to many other books and resources and it's a great way to "gateway" readers to other complex and niche texts.