The US Minimalist Movement: Radical Political Practice?

Rodriguez, Jason

doi:10.1177/0486613416665832

Cited by 37 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Tensions of minimalism as a simultaneously collective and individualistic practice parallels Soper's concept of 'alternative hedonism' (Soper and Thomas, 2006;Soper, 2008); in which reduced consumption is viewed as individually beneficially and simultaneously tied to a collectivist concern with sustainability. Rodriguez (2018) also considers the tensions of individualism and collectivism within minimalism, and expands upon the geographic setting by exploring the increasing popularity of the US minimalist movement, via an analysis of biographies of popular minimalists. Rodriguez argues that the rising popularity of the movement demonstrates a popular critical consideration on 'the ills of consumerism and an effort to forge new ways of living amidst consumer capitalism' (286).…”

Section: Voluntary Simplicity and Minimalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited, considered and sustainable consumption: The (non)consumption practices of UK minimalists

Martin-Woodhead

2021

Journal of Consumer Culture

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Minimalism is an increasingly popular lifestyle movement in western economies (predominantly in the USA, Japan and Europe) that involves voluntarily reducing consumption and limiting one’s possessions to a bare minimum. This is with the intention of making space for the ‘important’ (potentially immaterial) things that are seen to add meaning and value to one’s life. Drawing on interviews with minimalists in the UK, this article reveals that minimalists practice sustainable (non)consumption via limiting their consumption. This is achieved by actively buying less, using up and maintaining what is owned, and, when objects are acquired, only practising highly intentional, considered and (sometimes) ethical consumption. For some, such practices are predominantly based on strong ethical and environmental motivations or are seen as a positive ‘by-product’ of their minimalist lifestyles. Whilst for others, their motivations are primarily aligned to personal well-being. The article subsequently argues that the limited and considered practices of minimalist consumption can be seen as sustainable practices in outcome, if not always in intent.

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Section: Voluntary Simplicity and Minimalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited, considered and sustainable consumption: The (non)consumption practices of UK minimalists

Martin-Woodhead

2021

Journal of Consumer Culture

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“…The adoption of a minimalist lifestyle results from the dissatisfaction with the modernity promise; a good life is a life with abundance (Kala et al 2017). When individuals realize such dissatisfaction and their limitations in providing identity and happiness, they restrict their consumption and reduce their possessions to achieve self-improvement and greater awareness (Dopierała 2017;Rodriguez 2018). Anderson and Heyne (2016, p. 124) mentioned that "Changing one's lifestyle is an important pathway to well-being."…”

Section: Minimalism and Happinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential consumption

et al. 2021

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This research objective is to propose and test a theoretical model representing the relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential consumption. A survey with 395 Brazilian amateur runners was conducted, and the structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis. The main results showed that life satisfaction and experiential consumption positively influence happiness, and minimalism influences experiential consumption in the sample studied. Furthermore, minimalism did not influence happiness. The proposed framework showed that life satisfaction and experiential consumption explain 54.2% of the happiness of leisure practitioners. Because people generally do not increase their happiness by choosing a simple lifestyle, they can decrease consumption by incentives other than happiness. Therefore, public policies aimed at raising awareness of the importance of reducing consumption should focus on other benefits, such as the benefits that can be gained from leisure and experiential consumption.

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“…Others, such as Bennett (2010), appear to take a more cautious approach, and certainly the argument in this article is that while the last 200 years of industrial capitalism have seen a marked upswing in human entanglement with things and environments, there is a deeper human propensity towards human‐thing entanglement. Alternatives such as decluttering, sustainable shopping, minimalist living, seem important at the grass‐roots level (Jay 2010; Rodriguez 2018), while no‐growth capitalism and stronger global governance seem worth exploring at the structural level (Daly 1991; Jackson 2009).…”

Section: Some Implications For Theories Of Social Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The paradox of the long term: human evolution and entanglement★

Hodder

2020

Royal Anthropological Inst

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Over recent decades, many archaeologists have eschewed evolutionary theories, and in doing so they have turned away from the identification of long-term trends that are of great relevance to present-day matters of concern. In particular, there is clear evidence for an overall long-term increase in the amount of human-made material and associated human-thing entanglements, an increase tied up with environmental impact and global inequalities. The directionality of these long-term changes is clear and yet evolutionary theory largely shuns notions of overall directional change. This paradox and its implications are the subject of this article, with the suggestion made that, for human evolution at least, notions of directionality and path dependence need to be embraced, with concomitant changes in human evolutionary theory, and with implications for responses to environmental change. Adding to earlier accounts of entanglement, emphases are placed on the self-amplifying processes that lead to change and on irreversibility in the place of teleology.

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The US Minimalist Movement: Radical Political Practice?

Cited by 37 publications

References 14 publications

Limited, considered and sustainable consumption: The (non)consumption practices of UK minimalists

Limited, considered and sustainable consumption: The (non)consumption practices of UK minimalists

Relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential consumption

The paradox of the long term: human evolution and entanglement★

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