The Political Economy of (Un)Sustainable Production and Consumption: A Multidisciplinary Synthesis for Research and Action

Manu V. Mathai, Cindy Isenhour, Dimitris Stevis, Philip Vergragt, Magnus Bengtsson, Sylvia Lorek, Lars Fogh Mortensen, Luca Coscieme, David Scott, Ambreen Waheed, Eva Alfredsson

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

Despite widespread recognition of the need to transition toward more sustainable production and consumption and numerous initiatives to that end, global resource extraction and corresponding socio-ecological degradation continue to grow. Understanding the causes of this persistent failure is a necessary step towards more effective action. This article contributes to that understanding by synthesizing theory and evidence that links unsustainable production-consumption systems to power and inequality. While sustainable consumption and production research and action mostly focuses on technological or behavioral change, the socio-ecological inequalities driving production-consumption systems built into the organization of our global political economy, remain largely overlooked. In response, we propose a structural political economy orientation that seeks explicitly to reduce these inequalities and advance environmental justice and, thus, create the conditions for sustainable production-consumption systems. We then propose three important arenas of research and action towards sustainable production-consumption systems: justice, governance, and co-production of knowledge and action. These arenas, collectively and individually, can serve as entry points to study and act on the dynamics of (un)sustainable production-consumption systems. This can be done at the micro level, with respect to specific commodity chains or systems of provisioning, or at meso and macro levels with respect to national and global production networks. Our proposed orientation helps distinguish research and practice proposals into those emphasizing management and compensation resulting often in persistence of unsustainability, from those proffering structural changes in unsustainable production-consumption systems. We invite critique and collaboration to develop this research and action agenda further.

Solidarity Forever: Initiatives in the Global South as a model of the post-COVID-19 solidarity economy

Ashley Colby, Emma Badini

Solutions

COVID-19 has demonstrated the deficiencies of a globalized, neoliberal marketplace. In the midst of crisis, planners and policy makers tend to turn toward technologists and bureaucrats for solutions. Using the framework of the solidarity economy, we argue that innovative and sustainable infrastructure for the post-COVID-19 world exists within the Global South. This article suggests that the groundwork laid before the onset of the pandemic allowed communities to move rapidly to localized trade structures and community-based sharing initiatives. We use a case study example of a rural community in Uruguay that has innovative social structures including a local food economy, sharing networks, and co-operative arrangements. These structures render community members resilient and adaptable in the face of a global crisis. We discuss what lessons may be transmitted to the Global North as people there look to build a more sustainable and resilient society post-COVID-19.

Do online environments promote sufficiency or overconsumption? Online advertisement and social media effects on clothing, digital devices, and air travel consumption

Vivian Frick, Ellen Matthies, John Thøgersen, Tilman Santarius

Journal of Consumer Behavior

Sustainable consumption is increasingly shaped by online environments. Everyday exposure to online advertisement and social media content by peers may influence individual consumption decisions. By representative online surveys (N = 2,694), we examined how perception of online environments influences individual consumption levels of clothing, digital devices and leisure air travel, mediated by individual aspiration levels, personal and social norms. Structural equation modeling confirms relationships between perceived consumption‐promoting online content and consumption levels, fully mediated through aspiration levels. Sufficiency‐promoting online content is associated with higher social and personal norms for sufficiency, but neither of the latter are linked to aspiration or consumption levels. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that aspiration levels and consumption decisions are influenced by consumption‐promoting online content. Due to the use of cross‐sectional data, it cannot be ruled out that these results reflect that more consumption‐oriented individuals pay more attention to consumption‐promoting online content. Hence, the dominant causal direction needs to be determined by experimental or longitudinal methods.

Why do users (not) repair their devices? A study of the predictors of repair practices

Melanie Jaeger-Erben, Vivian Frick, Tamina Hipp

Journal of Cleaner Production

Academic literature on circular economy describes repair as an important strategy to prolong the lifetime of products. However, repair is often analyzed in terms of business models or product designs and tend to underestimate the role of consumer practices and routines. The paper adds to the growing body of consumer research on repair with a particular focus on the relation between past repair behaviour, product usetimes and different product types. Based on previous research and a conceptual perspective on repair as a social practice, the paper describes a survey-based, quantitative analysis of the role of social and material settings, meanings and competences for the likelihood of repairing an object (either DIY or by repair services). We further explore the pertinence of repair for prolonging product usetimes compared to other product related practices like replacements. A model is proposed that predicts patterns of 1) how agency- and setting-related aspects are predicting repair and 2) how product related practices predict product usetimes for two different consumer goods (washing machines and smartphones). Both models were implemented and tested by structural equation modelling (SEM) with latent variables, using R lavaan. The tests revealed among others that the behavioural and financial costs for repair are perceived as high and social and material settings are more likely to impede than to enable repair. We also found that novelty seeking is an important predictor for non-repair and short product usetimes, but that there are significant differences between smartphones and washing machines. Based on our results we discuss further research and policy strategies to understand and change the current culture of non-repair.

From the suites to the streets: Examining the range of behaviors and attitudes of international climate activists

Jean Léon Boucher, Garfield T. Kwan, Gina R.Ottoboni, Mark S. McCaffrey

Energy Research and Social Science

Inspired by previous protest movements, climate activists began taking to the streets in the fall of 2018, revitalizing and reshaping the three-decade-old climate activist movement. This metamorphosis in climate activism, which has led millions around the world to participate in climate strikes and protests, is reflected in the composition of the activists themselves, who the media frequently portray as primarily young and female. In order to better understand this new and evolving landscape, we surveyed self-identifying climate activists, obtaining results from 367 individuals across 66 countries. Our survey, augmented by seven individual interviews, provides an overview of current climate activists, their attitudes, priorities, and actions. Here we map our findings, delineating differences based on gender, age, and geography. Our results indicate that the media’s focus on young female activists is warranted—at least in Europe and North America. We find that while activists share a commitment toward rapid and substantial reduction of greenhouse gases, their attitudes and actions taken to address climate change can significantly differ by demographic group. Despite its limitations, this study provides a glimpse into the demographics, behaviors, and attitudes of climate activists across the globe.

The influence of consumer behavior on energy, greenhouse gas, and water footprints of showering

Sadegh Shahmohammadi, Zoran Steinmann, Henry King, Hilde Hendrickx,  Mark A.J. Huijbregts

Journal of Industrial Ecology

Understanding variability in consumer behavior can provide further insights into how to effectively reduce environmental footprints related to household activities. Here, we developed a stochastic model to quantify the energy, greenhouse gas (GHG), and water consumption footprints of showering in four different countries (Australia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America). We assessed the influence of two broadly distinct categories of behavior on the footprints of showering: habitual behaviors and one‐off reasoned actions. We also investigated whether changing showering behavior has a substantial impact on the associated energy, GHG, and water footprints. Our results show that the variation in environmental footprints within the countries due to differences in consumer behavior is a factor of 6–17 (95th percentile/5th percentile) depending on the country and the indicator selected. Both consumers’ reasoned actions (especially the choice of a specific heater and shower type) and habitual behaviors (length of showering in particular, are the dominant sources of footprint variability. Significant savings are achievable by making better one‐off decisions such as buying an efficient water heater and by taking shorter showers.