This is a fundamental academic work for understanding the structural contradictions of contemporary consumerism and its devastating effects on the environment, the economy, subjectivity, and sociocultural dynamics. Resulting from critical and interdisciplinary research, the book examines in depth the impacts of hyperconsumption and proposes viable and sustainable alternatives for building a post-consumerist society.

Organized into nine analytical chapters and a prospective conclusion, the volume ranges from critiques of the linear economy, the financialization of consumption, and the psychic exhaustion of performative life, to the philosophical analysis of new forms of cultural resistance such as minimalism, economic degrowth, circular economy, and conscious consumption practices. It also rigorously discusses the possibilities and limits of public policies aimed at controlling consumerism, linking international experiences with institutional challenges.

The book provides an up-to-date theoretical overview on topics such as:

Sustainability and environmental collapse;
Structural indebtedness and the financialization of daily life;
Culture of obsolescence and aesthetic performance;
Care economy, productive relocalization, and environmental justice;
Philosophy of consumption, ethics of desire, and neoliberal subjectivity;
Public policies regulating credit, advertising, and fiscal incentives.

Drawing from authors like Jean Baudrillard, Serge Latouche, Byung-Chul Han, Ivan Illich, Judith Butler, Juliet Schor, and David Harvey, the book articulates critical theory, political economy, sociology, philosophy, ecology, and cultural studies to deconstruct the consumerist imaginary and point toward alternative paths of social coexistence and symbolic reconstruction.

This is an essential read for those seeking to understand the profound transformations underway in the 21st century and the challenges of formulating new models of life, labor, and production beyond the dominance of the market.