Gifts, sustainable consumption and giving up green anxieties at Christmas

Abstract

This paper explores the proposition that gifting is a little recognised yet important practice bound up in the quest for sustainable consumption, which has largely been studied with reference to market rather than gift economies. It draws on gift theories in economic anthropology which explain gifts as engendering social relations of reciprocity and beyond, and shaping social life differently to commodities. Understanding how and why commodities become gifts (and vice versa), we contend, provides a new way of understanding some of the complex ways in which social relations are implicated in sustainable consumption. We use a study of Christmas gifting practices within a group of environmentally engaged households to begin to empirically explore if and how environmental considerations are expressed in the gift economy. We conclude that the fashioning of a particular social identity, namely, the 'green consumer' can operate very differently in the context of gift-exchange than in the context of non-gifting consumption. This paper explores the proposition that gifting is a little recognised yet important practice bound up in the quest for sustainable consumption, which has largely been studied with reference to market rather than gift economies. It draws on gift theories in economic anthropology which explain gifts as engendering social relations of reciprocity and beyond, and shaping social life differently to commodities. Understanding how and why commodities become gifts (and vice versa), we contend, provides a new way of understanding some of the complex ways in which social relations are implicated in sustainable consumption. We use a study of Christmas gifting practices within a group of environmentally engaged households to begin to empirically explore if and how environmental considerations are expressed in the gift economy. We conclude that the fashioning of a particular social identity, namely, the 'green consumer' can operate very differently in the context of giftexchange than in the context of non-gifting consumption.

Rethinking material cultures of sustainability: Commodity consumption, cultural biographies and following the thing

“…The second cluster of work to be addressed sits at the intersection of material geographies and cultural environmental research, and is most readily associated with Chris Gibson, Lesley Head and colleagues (for example Farbotko & Head, ; Gibson et al., ; Gibson et al., ; Head, Gibson, Gill, Carr, & Waitt, ; Head et al., ; Waitt & Phillips, ) as well as a number of contributions to Ruth Lane and Andrew Gorman‐Murray's () edited collection Material geographies of household sustainability . Starting from the observation that the household is a scale that not only makes sense to policy‐makers as a site of government intervention, but also to the people who live in them; this research explores the relationships, emotions, meanings, materials and practices that are involved in the creation and maintenance of the home.…”

Jingle bells or ‘green’ bells? The impact of socially responsible consumption principles upon consumer behaviour at Christmas time

“…Regarding SRC behaviours, literature provides few studies that have examined the impact of atmospheric variables upon people's socially responsible behaviour. To our knowledge, only Farbotko and Head () have conducted a longitudinal study of 15 environmentally engaged households and have shown that environmental concerns are not expressed through gifts. Nevertheless, a strong feature of the Christmas atmosphere is the tradition of gift exchange.…”

“…Past research in consumer behaviour mostly explored SRC for regular purchases, but ignored extraordinary situations, like Christmas. It is important to study Christmas consumption because, in contemporary Western societies these festive occasions have become synonymous with overconsumption (Farbotko & Head, ). For instance, a PwC (2014) study has shown that Irish people who spend US$1,096 on average for Christmas far exceed the English (US$971) and the Americans (US$707).…”

“…Few studies, however, have focused upon the influence of specific situations or events on people's socially responsible behaviour. To our knowledge, the longitudinal analysis of sociologists Farbotko and Head () is the only one to show that environmental concerns are not expressed through gifts. It would thus appear that socially responsible behaviour is perceived as pleasureless effort, since in a festive context dominated by the quest for pleasure, socially responsible concerns take backstage.…”

Christmas Economics - A Sleigh Ride

“…Birmingham has successfully transferred the European custom of Christmas market (Bloom…eld 2010) 2. Christmas makes a di¤erence, even for green consumers (Farbotko and Head 2013).…”