Consumed On colonialism, climate change, consumerism & the need for collective change

Aja Barber’s debut book, CONSUMED, asks you to change your consumer identity in order to be a part of a more equitable and sustainable future

Aja Barber wants change.

In the ‘learning’ first half of the book, she exposes you to the endemic injustices in our consumer industries and the uncomfortable history of the textile industry; one which brokered slavery, racism and today’s wealth inequality. And how these oppressive systems have bled into the fashion industry and its lack of diversity and equality. She also reveals how we spend our money and whose pockets it goes into and whose it doesn’t (clue: the people who do the actual work) and tells her story of how she came to learn the truth.

In the second ‘unlearning’ half of the book, she helps you to understand the uncomfortable truth behind why you consume the way you do. She asks you to confront the sense of lack you have, the feeling that you are never quite enough and the reasons why you fill the aching void with consumption rather than compassion. And she makes you challenge this power disparity and take back ownership of it. The less you buy into the consumer culture the more power you have.

CONSUMED offers urgent, life-changing consumer help.
 

Aja Barber is a hugely influential voice and one that you will be hearing a lot more from. She is passionate about racial justice and exposing endemic injustices in our consumer and fashion industries. She has pledged to never take a dollar from fast fashion.

She is no stranger to campaigning for change. Her Instagram video ‘Why Performative Allyship is Triggering’, which called out brands and influencers for monetizing the Black Lives Matter movement, has accumulated over one million views. The video also put a spotlight on the disparity between fast fashion brand billionaires and their unpaid factory workers during the Covid-19 economic downturn.