Consumarchy

WHAT IS CONSUMARCHY ?

Consumarchy* is defined in contrast to consumerism; the pursuit of self-interest, dear to consumerism, generally gives way to the effects of a sense of openness and solidarity within the consumarchic system.

Thanks to consumarchy, consumers have the choice of combining, in their purchasing decisions, the proximate attributes of goods (e.g., their price or manufacturing quality) with their peripheral attributes (e.g., the conditions under which they are produced). It may then be viewed as a system by which consumers can exert moral or other authority on enterprises through a more enlightened selection of consumer products.

To date, environmental protection (also understood as the promotion of future generations’ well-being), decent working conditions, as well as the humane treatment of animals are among the spheres toward which the ethical preferences of consumers appear to be heading. Among the most advanced forms of consumarchic devices are the dolphin-safe, free-trade, child labour free, and forestry (eco) labelling initiatives.

Potential inroads in the horizontal development of consumarchy exhale a more radical flavour. Gender labelling and (anti-)extreme inequality labelling offer plausible market-based schemes amenable to reducing inequalities in the work arena, in spite of an old dogma to the effect that non-state egalitarianism is the “most utopian project that can be conceived”!

Consumarchy therefore calls for a more cautious appreciation of the seeming paralysis of liberal democracies’ reforming power, in response to Habermas' alleged “exhaustion of utopian energies” in the post-socialist tide or the announcement by Fukuyama that 1987 would mark “the end of History”.

• from consummare (Lat.), to consume, and arkhê (Gr.), command

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Consumarchy

An article you started, Consumarchy, has been proposed for deletion. Please review WP:NEO for relevant guidelines and improve the article if possible. NickelShoe 20:09, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Please don't delete or otherwise alter others' comments, particularly on an AfD discussion. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 00:05, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Dear NickelShoe,

I would like to know whether you are aware of an English equivalent for the word 'consumarchy' (a word increasingly used by scholars - see definition below). It would be interesting to know WHO decides whether a useful neologism is rejected or not on this site. Is this an Orwellian question? I have the feeling that Lawrence Glickman, a specialist in the historical developments of consumarchic initiatives in the US may end up having an interesting story to write about Wikipedia's refusal to enter the term in its database!?! Kind regards,

Consumarchy* is defined in contrast to consumerism; the pursuit of self-interest, dear to consumerism, generally gives way to the effects of a sense of openness and solidarity within the consumarchic system.

Thanks to consumarchy, consumers have the choice of combining, in their purchasing decisions, the proximate attributes of goods (e.g., their price or manufacturing quality) with their peripheral attributes (e.g., the conditions under which they are produced). It may then be viewed as a system by which consumers can exert moral or other authority on enterprises through a more enlightened selection of consumer products.

To date, environmental protection (also understood as the promotion of future generations’ well-being), decent working conditions, as well as the humane treatment of animals are among the spheres toward which the ethical preferences of consumers appear to be heading. Among the most advanced forms of consumarchic devices are the dolphin-safe, free-trade, child labour free, and forestry (eco) labelling initiatives.

• From consummare (Lat.), to consume, and arkhê (Gr.), command.

Things are done by consensus. You saw the AfD discussion, no doubt. People show up and talk about what they think. The "who" is Wikipedia editors like you and me. The question is not how useful it is, but rather how used it is, and how encyclopedically it can be treated. Wikipedia is not a publisher of new words, even if they are quite useful. That's just not our goal, because we take seriously that information should be verifiable. If the usage of this word is published in third-party sources, that's pretty much all that was needed to save the article, assuming you could write it in a way that didn't make it a mere dictionary definition.

Threats aren't useful, so need of bothering. Perhaps you would like to contribute to articles on established topics? Do also remember to sign your posts on talk pages by entering ~~~~, which converts to a link to your user page and the date, so I can easily see who I'm talking to and find their talk page to respond to them. NickelShoe (Talk) 15:20, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Consumarchy article

I've proposed the Consumarchy article for deletion again at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Consumarchy (2nd nomination). While I respect where you're going here, Wikipedia is intended for terms once they've already become accepted and discussed by secondary sources, not for spreading a cool new idea. Feel free to comment in the debate; if you have secondary sources mentioning Consumarchy other than that one paper, that would greatly improve the article's chances. SnowFire (talk) 06:52, 28 June 2009 (UTC)