Narratives of sustainable ways of living: constructing the self and the other as a green consumer

Abstract

This paper discusses the representation of “green consumerism” in the prevalent institutionalised discourses of green consumerism, and in the self‐narratives of people who identify themselves as ecologically oriented citizens, focusing on the construction of the self and the other in these texts. The aim is to investigate the ways in which “radical” ecologically oriented citizens, who are largely “marginalised” and positioned as the other in the dominant discourses of green consumerism, engage in resistance towards western, materialistic consumption culture. Drawing from the Foucauldian ideas of political struggle as the “politics of the self”, and personal ethics and moral agency as a mode of self‐formation, this paper analyses the ways in which these “green consumers” reject their received subjectivity as consumers. The focus is on the practices of self, and on the ways in which they invent and promote new forms of subjectivity that are more in line with their environmentalist ideology.

Ekokonsumpcja jako warunek efektywniejszego wykorzystania zasobów przyrodniczych a świadomość i zachowania konsumentów polskich

“…Pożądanym kierunkiem zmian nie jest ograniczanie konsumpcji, ale taka jej modyfikacja, by jej zewnętrzne, negatywne efekty były jak najmniejsze. Sprzyjają temu procesy ekologizacji konsumpcji, oznaczające taką konsumpcję, która co do formy i wielkości jest wyznaczana przez system przyjaznych środowisku przyrodniczemu wartości i postaw konsumentów kształtujących świadomość ekologiczną oraz prośrodowiskowo zorientowane wybory rynkowe gospodarstwa domowego [Moisander, Pesonen 2002].…”

Institutionalization of Sustainable Development in Decision-Making and Everyday Life Practices: A Critical View on the Finnish Case

“…Even though, to some people, being a greenie or an eco-hippie may be a positive way to identify one's relationship with nature, when used by others, the term viherpiipertäjä emphasizes the perceived negative qualities in environmental thinking [32]. The Finnish urban dictionary, Urbaani sanakirja, for example, describes such a person as follows:…”

Principles and indicators of green living families in Thai context

“…Moisander and Pesonen [5] indicate that research studies on Green-Living address the practice, product selection and way of life, but there has been no study indicating their means, processes and origins. This study focuses on the academic principles and indicators of the Green Living Families in Thailand and indicators of the Green Living Families in the Thai context.…”