Zaccaï, Edwin

Sustainable consumption, ecology and fair trade.

London

2007

9780415414920

55130

55171

55237

54990

55197

55173

54952

55017

This timely volume discusses the debates concerning sustainable consumption and the environment.

Sustainable consumption stands as a wide objective that attracts a growing attention within sustainable development policy circles and academic research. The contributors examine a range of interesting and relevant case studies including: household energy consumption, sustainable welfare, Fair Trade, Oxfam Worldshops, cotton farming and consumer organizations.

Sustainable Consumption takes an interdisciplinary approach and is well-balanced, presenting theoretical debates as well as empirical evidence in order to:

characterize the basic problems and determiners of an evolution towards, and the obstacles to, more sustainable consumption patterns

produce knowledge on the profile of consumers sensitive, and not sensitive, to these issues

explore realistic modes of interaction and innovation for changes in which consumers are involved.

This text will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, environment studies and sociology.

List of illustrations

Notes on contributors

Introduction: contradictions and studies

Consumption: what kind of problem for sustainable development?

What's wrong with consumption for sustainable development: overconsumption, underconsumption, misconsumption?

Sustainable household consumption: fact, future or fantasy?

A Sustainable consumption and sustainable welfare

How to attribute power to consumers? When epistemology and politics converge

Who is sensitive to sustainable consumption, and why?

Testing propositions towards sustainable consumption among consumers

Greening some consumption behaviours: do new routines require agency and reflexivity?

Marketing ethical products: what can we learn from Fair Trade consumer behaviour in Belgium?

Consumption as a solidarity-based commitment: the case of Oxfam Worldshops' customers

What justifications for a sustainable consumption?

Dynamics of sustainable consumption

Consumption: a field for resistance and moral containment

Sustainable consumption in a 'de-growth' perspective

Social change for changing the consumer's behaviour: application of the actionalist theory to the issue of consumption Is large-scale Fair Trade possible?

Impact of Fair Trade in the South: an example from the Indian cotton sector

Conclusions: the future of sustainable consumption

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Blackwell's Book Services and R.R. Bowker. Used with permission.