Groundhog day? Nietzsche, Deleuze and the eternal return of prosumption in lifelong learning

Abstract

This conceptual article examines George Ritzer's concept of prosumption in the context of lifelong learning in the UK. Ritzer's references to prosumption as a form of eternal return of a "primal act", which draw on the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Gilles Deleuze, introduce some ambiguity into the concept. This ambiguity echoes a certain polarization in the debate about co-creation, especially regarding the nature of consumer participation in the creation of value, but it is central to defining the limits of consumer freedom and agency. Critical analysis of UK lifelong learning discourse shows how prosumption can work as a tool of control in this context, producing docile subjectivities, compliant forms of creative co-production and disposable 'nothing' products through repetition and a return of the same. Where prosumption is able to challenge this repetition, however, it involves creativity and the return of difference. These examples show how eternal return, ultimately, underpins prosumption's claim to offer a valid description of emerging practices of prosuming lifelong learners.

The Prosumer Faces: The representation of the productive consumer in the marketing literature

“…At the same time, productive consumption has been used as a work or leisure tool (C4), with which consumers create content as a way to obtain monetary gains or as a hobby to improve their well-being. (Albuquerque et al, 2012;Beighton, 2017;Press & Arnould, 2011;Seraj, 2012). In this sense, while some consumers experience productive consumption as a form of work (Moisio et al, 2013), others produce content for entertainment, intended for leisure and to achieve well-being (Chen, 2018;Roberts & Cremin, 2019).…”

“…In this sense, Web 2.0 made it possible to increase the co-creation of value (C15), based on the dynamics and reach of virtual spaces (Arvidsson, 2005;Beighton, 2017;Dellaert, 2018;Figueiredo & Scaraboto, 2016;Grönroos & Voima, 2013;Troye & Supphellen, 2012;Sugihartati, 2017;Zhang, 2017), and through the possibility of creating content (Eden, 2017;Morreale, 2014;Roberts & Cremin, 2019). Brands take advantage of this scenario to integrate the prosumer into their business strategies (Bonsu et al, 2010;Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010;Schau et al, 2009).…”

Biopolitics and lifelong learning: the vitalistic turn in English further education discourse

“…Globalisation, fuelled by technological changes accelerated by the pandemic has increasingly relied on investment in immaterial forms of value creation rather than the traditional manufacture and exchange of goods. Education has grown in importance as a creator of cognitive capital (the value obtained from ideas, inventions and access to knowledge) and the prime vector of creativity and innovation for the global economy: economic success increasingly depends on the cultivation and the harvesting of creative capital often, but not exclusively, in digital form (Beighton, 2017b, see also Gray, 2016).…”

Xenolexia's positivity: the alterity of academic writing and its pedagogical implications

“…But the distinction between producer / consumer dissolves by knowledge co-creation, for example via academic literacies, be they digital or analogue. Rather than simply consume, the prosumer simultaneously produces and consumes goods and services, for instance when the student lends their voice to the creation and marketing of the student experience for which they have already paid (Ritzer 2014;Beighton 2017a).…”