Citizen consumer

A small proportion of people claim to live and consume in ways they consider more sustainable in social and environmental terms. As yet, we do not know how many exactly, but possibly no more than 5‐10% of the population. The thesis intentionally focuses on this minority finding there are at least three reasons why it is interesting to do so. First because they are all but ignored in sociologies of practice in the context of sustainable consumption which considers this minority an insignificance and focuses almost exclusively on a ‘mainstream’ majority which more closely maps onto the stereotype of ‘consumer society’. Second because we think we can learn much from juxtapositioning this group empirically against the spectrum of theories of practice to devise more robust and appropriate theoretical explanation of how these subjects, in the context of everyday practice, negotiate the many interpretations and contradictions involved in trying to put ‘sustainability’ into practice. Third because by understanding them better we can reflect on theoretical, empirical and policy implications for nudging this minority of the population to a higher percentage.

The thesis sits at one end of a spectrum of positions in theories of practice applied to consumption, and in particular with a normative interest in sustainable consumption. It aligns with those who seek to re‐insert the reflexive agent into accounts of practice, with particular reference to the conceptual construct of the ‘citizen‐consumer’ and the context of political consumption (Spaargaren & Oosterveer 2010). Referring to theories of consumption, the thesis adds perspectives on how people negotiate multiple domains of consumption simultaneously since everyday practice involves interactions across multiple domains (such as eating, mobility, householding); and yet typically in theories of practice these are artificially separated into single domains. The study therefore considers the implications which domains have on how particular practices are carried out, first separately (per domain) and then as they come together (in a cross‐cutting domain perspective). The study then takes theories of practice as a springboard to develop a theoretical position and framework which better fits the narrated accounts of the 37 subjects who participated in this study. In iteratively co‐developing a theoretical framework and multiple ‘stages’ of empirical research (using grounded theory methodology) the study seeks to explain theoretically how subjects justify their ‘doings’ (drawing on ‘conventions’ and ‘orders of worth’ (Boltanski & Thévenot 2006)); how they appear to muddle through as best they can (introducing ‘bricolage’ (Lévi‐Strauss 1972)); and how subjects appear to devise decision short‐cuts when approaching decisions characterised by the multiple contradictions of sustainable consumption and incomplete or ‘too much’ information (introducing heuristics (Gigerenzer & Gaissmaier 2011)).

In joining calls to re‐insert the reflexive agent to account for how, when and why subjects enact changes towards trajectories which they consider ‘more sustainable’ in their own terms, the study takes inspiration from Margaret Archer’s morphogenesis approach (1998) and explores her model of multiple modes of reflexivity, announcing certain modes as ‘better fitting’ conditions of late modernity. The study finally finds that contrary to a notion of the un‐reflexive agent, the citizen‐consumer is able to articulate visions of the ‘good life’. In addition she is able to fold these visions back onto everyday practices performed in the past, present and future, laying out normative guidelines and positive accounts of how to achieve personal or societal well‐being and happiness. The overarching positioning of the study is much inspired by Andrew Sayer’s (2011; 2000) ‘normative turn’ calling upon social sciences to re‐instate research into the things about which people care. The study is therefore guided by the overarching question of how people translate their environmental and/or social concerns into the ways in which they live and consume.

Traditionally, citizenship and consumption have been regarded as oppositional human activities" The ideal of the outwardly focused citizen denotes a commitment to the larger public interest, in contrast to the inwardly focused consumer whose primary concerns are centered on the self" This binary has been challenged by economic and cultural historians, however, who point to the range of ways that citizenship and consumption have long overlapped in the form of political revolutions, boycotts, identity, meaning making, corporate social responsibility, and cause-related marketing and consumer movements" The confluence between citizenship and consumption, though at times rife with tensions and paradoxes, constitutes an increasingly popular form of social, political, and civic engagement in contemporary society"

The consumer citizenship education guidelines were compiled for university professors and teacher trainers who want to impart to their students the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to function in a modern democratic society. Volume 1 of the guidelines discusses what consumer citizenship education is, what topics are covered, how these topics should be taught, what the students should gain from the courses, and how the attitudes and skills they learn will help them to function as consumers and engaged citizens in the European Union and the wider world.
The guidelines attempt to bring together in one place all the elements of consumer citizenship education as they have been developing over the past few years.  With the help of these guidelines, professors and university administrators can develop courses and curricula that will give students the practical skills needed for today’s world and show them how their own well-being affects the well-being of others, and vice versa.  Consumer citizenship education thereby contributes to the social and economic development of each of the participating countries and of the world as a whole.

This essay explores sustainable consumption and considers possible roles for marketing and consumer researchers and public policy makers in addressing the many sustainability challenges that pervade the planet. Future research approaches to this interdisciplinary topic must be comprehensive and systematic and would benefit from a variety of different perspectives. There are several opportunities for further research; the authors explore three areas in detail. First, they consider the inconsistency between the attitudes and behaviors of consumers with respect to sustainability. Second, they broaden the agenda to explore the role of individual citizens in society. Third, they propose a macroinstitutional approach to fostering sustainability. For each of these separate, but interrelated, opportunities, the authors examine the area in detail and consider possible research avenues and public policy initiatives.

This project explores consumer evaluations on Yelp.com as “commodity activism” – the politicization of market activities for the purposes of social change and/or cultural resistance. A textual analysis of consumer evaluations (n = 1972) and interviews (n = 18) reveal that commodity activism on Yelp most commonly appears as a positive bias toward localism. Consumers discursively construct an aesthetic of authenticity around localism that functions in accordance with the logic of corporate branding; in turn, “brand local” is appropriated by reviewers as part of their own authentic “self-brand” grounded in the civic duty to one’s community. The implications of this logic are critiqued against commodity activism’s commitment to individual, personalized forms of self-empowerment over identification with larger collective and community struggles. In this sense, Yelp is favorable to neoliberal discourses of consumer capitalism, where consumption serves as a stand-in for citizenship and localism’s political potential reconfigured in market terms.

Buy national propaganda has been booming again recently. But it also has a long history that clearly gained momentum in the 20th century as the moralisation of shopping seemed urgent in mass consumer societies. Not only did it serve the sale of 'national' goods, but its aims extended beyond that.

Buy national propaganda and the discourses linked to it constituted a hegemonic project. They inscribed shopping in a 'national economy', in a triangle of state, nation and economy dominated by the propertied classes. The study analyses these relations on the basis of Switzerland and Austria from the 1910s to around 1980.　

The most important addressees of this propaganda were women, children and young people. Depending on gender, age and class, they were supposed to contribute to the national economy in different ways. Nationalising discourses and practices encompassed purchase and renunciation, consumption and production. The demands appeared in conservative or social democratic, austerity-oriented or Keynesian guise.
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Buy-National-Propaganda hat neuerdings wieder Konjunktur. Sie hat aber auch eine lange Geschichte, die im 20. Jahrhundert deutlich Fahrt aufnahm. Die Moralisierung des Einkaufens erschien in Massenkonsumgesellschaften dringlich.　Sie diente　nicht nur　dem Absatz von ‚nationalen‘ Waren,　sondern　ihre Ziele reichten darüber hinaus.

Buy-National-Propaganda und die mit ihr verknüpften Diskurse waren ein hegemoniales Projekt. Sie schrieben das Einkaufen in eine ‚nationale Ökonomie‘ ein, in ein bürgerlich dominiertes Dreieck aus Staat, Nation und Wirtschaft. Die Studie analysiert dieses Geflecht anhand der Schweiz und Österreichs von den 1910er-Jahren bis ca. 1980.　

Die wichtigsten Adressat*innen der Propaganda waren Frauen, Kinder und Jugendliche. Je nach Gender, Alter und Klasse sollten sie in anderer Weise zur nationalen Ökonomie beitragen. Es ging um eine Nationalisierung durch Kauf und Verzicht,　Konsum　und　Produktion. Die Forderungen trugen konservatives oder sozialdemokratisches, austeritätsorientiertes oder keynesianisches Gewand.

This paper examines how football, sport and other cultural fields are characterized by complex interrelations between 'citizen' and 'consumer' identities. Our analysis centres specifically on critically examining and developing the concept of 'citimer' (citizen-consumer) with respect to activist supporter groups within European professional men's football. First, to establish the structural and cultural context for our analysis, we argue that the emergence of citizen-consumer identities in football has been driven by five underlying processes: globalization, commodification, securitization, mediatization, and postmodernization. Critical football fan movements have responded to these changes through greater reflexivization and politicization. Second, drawing on the broad academic literature, we develop the concept of the citizen-consumer (or 'citimer') and introduce its relevance to football. Third, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the citizen-consumer, we explore how this 'citimer' identity is constructed in two ways: 'from below' (by fan groups themselves at everyday level) and 'from above' (by clubs, governing bodies, media and other powerful forces within the football system). In both instances, we find that the citizen and consumer aspects of the citimer identity are interrelated in complex ways. Fourth, we conclude by highlighting the political reflexivity of citimers, and areas for future research. Our analysis draws on extensive data collection: with football supporters and officials in the Czech Republic, England and Italy, and at the wider European level; and, through access to diverse primary and secondary documents (e.g. policy papers, fanzines, and online forums). Our findings may be applied to examine citimer identities, practices and social relations not just within football and sport, but in many other cultural fields, such as art, communication, drama, fashion, film, and music.

This essay explores sustainable consumption and considers possible roles for marketing and consumer researchers and public policy makers in addressing the many sustainability challenges that pervade the planet. Future research approaches to this interdisciplinary topic must be comprehensive and systematic and would benefit from a variety of different perspectives. There are several opportunities for further research; the authors explore three areas in detail. First, they consider the inconsistency between the ...

This essay explores sustainable consumption and considers possible roles for marketing and consumer researchers and public policy makers in addressing the many sustainability challenges that pervade the planet. Future research approaches to this interdisciplinary topic must be comprehensive and systematic and would benefit from a variety of different perspectives. There are several opportunities for further research; the authors explore three areas in detail. First, they consider the inconsistency between the ...