消费借“体验”升级与体验型社会的形成

Consumption Upgrading through “Experience” and the Rise of an Experience-Oriented Society

摘要: 为走出消费市场饱和的困境，资本主义借助“体验”开拓新的消费空间，实现了消费资本主义的升级。英国社会学家斯蒂芬·迈尔斯对工作、休闲、生活空间、技术等“社会生活中关键领域”的体验式转向作了详细考察和分析，他认为，体验消费和体验经济继农业、工业和服务业之后登上历史舞台，并不是经济和社会“自然”发展的结果，而是资本主义为了维系自身所作的布局和引导。与20世纪消费社会相比，体验消费和以此为契机重启的消费资本主义具有更加注重自我构建、重视情绪价值、即时性、生产与消费合一以及自欺性等特征。消费从商品向体验的转换，不是减弱而是加深了资本对社会和个人的控制，人不仅没有获得自由和解放，反而在更大程度上丧失了自我。他对体验型社会的批判延续了西方马克思主义社会批判理论路径，对于理解和反思当代经济社会状况很有启发意义。

Abstract: To break free from the saturation of consumer markets, capitalism has turned to “experience” as a new frontier for consumption, thereby achieving an upgrade in consumer capitalism. British sociologist Stephen Miles has conducted a detailed examination and analysis of the experiential shift in key domains of social life, including work, leisure, living spaces, and technology. He argues that the emergence of experiential consumption and the experience economy—following agriculture, industry, and services—is not the result of “natural” economic and social development, but rather a deliberate strategy orchestrated by capitalism to sustain itself. Compared to the consumer society of the 20th century, experiential consumption and the revitalized consumer capitalism it enables are characterized by a heightened focus on self-construction, emotional value, immediacy, the merging of production and consumption, and self-deception. The shift from commodity-based to experience-based consumption does not diminish but rather intensifies capital’s control over society and individuals. Far from achieving freedom and liberation, people find themselves losing even more of their autonomy. Miles’ critique of the experiential society follows the tradition of Western Marxist social critique, offering valuable insights for understanding and reflecting on contemporary economic and social conditions.