| 1. |
- Boréus, Kristina, 1959-, et al.
(författare)
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Breaking through banal consumerism? Representations of postconsumerist perspectives in mainstream press media
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Consumer Culture. - : Sage Publications. - 1469-5405 .- 1741-2900. ; 24:1, s. 155-174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Current calls for deep societal transformation stress the need to go beyond green consumption and aim for the reduction of material consumption. Such a shift is enacted by grassroots initiatives around reuse, repair and sharing. However, the possibility of postconsumerist perspectives and practices to reach a broader audience is affected by discursive opportunity structures (DOS) formed in public debate. To understand the DOS it is relevant to pay attention both to the continuous normalisation of consumption and to the ways in which alternatives are represented. To develop new analytical tools for examining what postconsumerist initiatives are up against, we introduce the concept of banal consumerism: mundane, habitual expressions that reproduce consumer culture. Through an empirical study of Swedish daily newspapers, we construct the basis for a typology of different expressions of banal consumerism. We find several expressions, of which the massive advertising of consumer goods is the most common but editorial material also plays an important role. This largely disabling DOS is then put in relation to the potentially enabling opportunities entailed in the existing media coverage of postconsumerist initiatives, practices and perspectives. The results show that postconsumerist initiatives and practices are newsworthy and presented as commendable. The fact that high levels of material consumption negatively impact the environment and life on the planet is widely accepted. To argue for degrowth or criticise consumerism is, however, controversial. Thus, support for postconsumerist practices coexist with massive expressions of banal consumerism, creating a complex set of DOS for the postconsumerist initiatives to navigate.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Bradley, Karin, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Mainstreaming sustainable practices without losing conviviality? : An assessment framework based on cycling
- 2024
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1548-7733. ; 20:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conceptualizations of scaling sustainable practices tend to focus on the uptake of new technologies and practices, whereas the scaling or maintaining of convival practices with a long history has received less attention. In this article, we explore mainstreaming of cycling along three contemporary paths: the spread of e-bikes, bike sharing, and bike kitchens. We develop an analytical framework for assessing mainstreaming of sustainable practices and its impacts on conviviality - exploring which new groups are reached and new forms of usage opened up, as well as the impacts on accessibility, adaptability, and socio-ecological relations. Our analysis shows that the spread of e-bikes and bike sharing are associated with a certain loss of conviviality, while bike kitchens explicitly aim to maintain conviviality. The mainstreaming paths also widen and deepen the practice and notion of cycling. We conclude by reflecting on policy implications and how strategies for more convivial mainstreaming can be organized.
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| 4. |
- Lipke, Naomi, 1983-
(författare)
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Creating Food Commons : From Commodity to Common Pool Resource
- 2024
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Researchers, environmentalists, social justice activists and policy makers have long discussed the inherent environmental and social problems prevalent in food systems. This thesis explores ways in which foodsharing can be interpreted as a movement towards a future set of economic relationships that values environmental limits and the right of individuals to access food. Contributing to a growing body of literature, I argue that foodsharing demonstrates the ability for people to organize using alternative digital tools for collection and distribution of readily abundant resources without the need for significant government or business intervention, producing a type of commons relationship. The aim of the thesis is to explore what foodsharing, as a process of commoning, can teach us about alternative forms of economic and social exchanges. If alternative economic organizations are important for a just transition, social scientists need to go beyond arguments for their relevance to study their actual strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to support them. Drawing on theories of commons, prefigurative politics and just transitions, this thesis looks at an alternative economy organization which succeeds despite working against the status quo, to show where the social system around it is not designed to support it and asks what it might need to reach further. This is explored through the qualitative case study of a well-established foodsharing organization in a medium size city on the West coast of Sweden. Research questions focused on the political ideas used by the organization, the ways in which it was organized, and the reasons for and resolution of conflict. Through interviews, observations, and online research the case is elaborated upon and analyzed to reveal the unique dynamics of the studied organization. These include very specific rules for collecting and distributing food that aim to maintain transparency, solidarity, and fairness. The foodsharing organization displays some characteristics of a food commons and in other instances characteristics of a gift economy. The main contribution is a closer look at the resulting interpersonal and organizational dynamics of one alternative economy organization in order to illuminate some challenges of organizing and maintaining similar ventures in the future. If alternative economic organizations have social benefit, then they will need to be supported in the ways in which are appropriate to their form and politics.
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| 5. |
- Tornhill, Sofie, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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No space to share. Challenges of accommodating grassroots initiatives in sustainable urban districts
- 2024
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Ingår i: City. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1360-4813 .- 1470-3629.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many cities in the Global North that aspire to be at the forefront of sustainable urbanism have adopted Sharing City agendas. In the development of socially inclusive cities, grassroots sharing initiatives have been seen as key in disseminating more sustainable forms of provisioning. This article examines a case where ambitions to accommodate grassroots sharing initiatives failed, namely in the renewal of the sustainability and sharing-branded area of Masthuggskajen in Gothenburg, Sweden. In order to analyse the interactions and power relations between governance bodies and grassroots sharing initiatives, and how these are shaped by spatial dimensions, we explore the opportunities for grassroots initiatives to influence sustainability goals in the development of high-profile urban districts. Our findings suggest that while areas branded as sharing economy districts acknowledge the potential of grassroots initiatives, high rents precipitate the displacement or co-optation of non-commercial actors, thereby preventing deeper transformation. In more peripheral areas, grassroots initiatives are more likely to thrive, but often fail to reach beyond a critical niche. In order for grassroots sharing initiatives to influence the meanings and practices of sustainability, this spatial paradox, we argue, calls for political solutions at both the local and national level.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Bradley, Karin, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Community repair in the circular economy : Fixing more than stuff
- 2022
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Ingår i: Local Environment. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1354-9839 .- 1469-6711. ; , s. 1-17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the circular economy discourse it is stressed that products ought to be repairable and that repair work is assumed to be growing. However, repair can be organised and performed in different ways – by corporate entities, independent repairers, laypersons and communities. Some corporations are integrating repair and maintenance into their offering, while simultaneously restricting consumers to open, repair or modify their products. In opposition to such developments, there is a movement for “right to repair”, which works for consumers’ legal rights to repair and modify products, pushing for the free availability of spare parts and manuals. Recent years have also seen a growth of repair cafés and other forms of DIY community repair spaces. This paper explores the discourses of DIY community repair through two Swedish case studies – an NGO-led nationwide repair campaign and a local government initiative of open DIY repair spaces. Our case studies show how DIY community repair works towards enabling all, particularly marginalised groups, to participate and live well in a low-impact future. In contrast to the mainstream circular economy discourse, the purpose of community repair is not only about repairing broken stuff and reducing waste, but about building social relations and practicing non-consumerist forms of citizenship. By elucidating these different perspectives on repair – who is to perform it, with what skills and for what purposes – we highlight how the transition to future, more circular economies, can be enacted and steered in ways that allow for different roles and powers for citizen-consumers.
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| 8. |
- Persson, Ola
(författare)
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Scaling sufficiency : Towards less material consumption
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Various researchers have pointed out that avoiding further catastrophicconsequences related to the deteriorating ecological state of the planet,brought about by unsustainable production and consumption patterns,requires not only technological innovation and efficiency in productionprocesses, but also absolute reductions in energy and material use (i.e.,sufficiency). The rapid expansion of research on ideas such as sufficiency andpost-growth indicate an increasing realization that fundamental societalchange is needed if we are to avoid devastating environmental effects andsocial inequities.Using a theoretical perspective consisting of the literature on sustainableconsumption, sufficiency politics and policies, and scaling sustainabilityinitiatives, this thesis aims to contribute to our knowledge about socialecologicaltransformations from the perspective of sufficiency, specificallyaddressing (un)sustainable consumption. Sweden serves as the case with, onthe one hand, its strong civil society, policy and business promotion ofsustainable development and, on the other, high per-capita levels ofunsustainable consumption of resources.This thesis comprises four separate articles and a cover essay. Article oneexplores how environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) areframing different sufficiency activities—ranging from those that can beapplied within the current market arrangements to others that deal withsocial relations and non-commercial values beyond market exchange—as away to attract a wider audience. Article two analyses the individual motivesfor working less and the socio-ecological outcomes of Gothenburg City’s ‘rightto part-time’ policy. The third article contrasts the visions and discourses of‘community repair’ with the mainstream circular economy discourse byanalyzing the ENGO campaign ‘Fix the Stuff’ and the open Do-It-Yourselfrepair spaces ‘Fixotek’ in the City of Gothenburg. Article four explores howdifferent business forms impact upon the social and ecological sustainabilitydynamics of the changing Swedish second-hand clothing market.Sufficiency is an approach that remains peripheral in the public debates onhow to enable social and ecological sustainability. Nevertheless, the researchin this thesis provides concrete examples of how sufficiency practices can bescaled, not only through bottom-up and grassroots movements, but also viaiimore conventional actors, such as municipalities, established ENGOs andfirms (Papers I–IV). It therefore contributes to knowledge about howsufficiency can extend beyond an individual strategy towards low-impactlifestyles, and thus can involve various societal actors and amplificationprocesses, ranging across scaling out, scaling deep and scaling up. In addition,I illustrate how the scaling of sufficiency practices is also coupled withvarious challenges and tensions, which risk undermining some of the keyaspects of the sufficiency approach.Furthermore, through the lens of the sufficiency approach, this thesis alsoadvances the debate on sustainability transitions and circular economies(Papers III and IV). In particular, it draws attention to how the mainstreamcircular economy discourse has overlooked questions relating to the rolesand powers of citizen-consumers and corporations, as well as the control ofmaterials, skills and resources. Moreover, there are social-ecological issuesrelated to which market actors have access to used clothing, how thesematerials flow and how profits are eventually distributed that have yet toreceive much attention in the current circular economy debate. Together,these issues have important implications for who benefits from the transitionto a circular economy and in what ways.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Callmer, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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In search of sufficiency politics : the case of Sweden
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1548-7733. ; 17:1, s. 194-208
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In transitions toward more sustainable and just societies, there is an urgent need to address overconsumption and to include a sufficiency perspective. This article contributes to previous research by exploring what a framework for a politics of sufficiency might entail and how such a framework can be used to analyze existing public policy. Our case analysis is the policy field of sustainable consumption and waste prevention in the context of Sweden. Based on interviews with public officials and civil society representatives, we identify key areas to address when aiming for a sufficiency orientation. Our results suggest that local and regional governments that strive for a commitment to sufficiency should formulate clear goals that serve to set environmental limits, for instance, in the form of carbon budgets, and then steer toward well-being for the inhabitants within these limits. Efforts should be made to secure stable funding for work within sustainable consumption and waste prevention, especially for projects with synergies in terms of reducing consumption and strengthening non-market relations. Using public procurement is another key tool. In the absence of an overall national politics of sufficiency, the above-mentioned strategies can be and already are to some degree, used by authorities in Sweden.
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