Confronting ConsumptionThomas Princen, Michael Maniates, Ken Conca MIT Press, 21 ביוני 2002 - 392 עמודים Comforting terms such as "sustainable development" and "green production" frame environmental debate by stressing technology (not green enough), economic growth (not enough in the right places), and population (too large). Concern about consumption emerges, if at all, in benign ways; as calls for green purchasing or more recycling, or for small changes in production processes. Many academics, policymakers, and journalists, in fact, accept the economists' view of consumption as nothing less than the purpose of the economy. Yet many people have a troubled, intuitive understanding that tinkering at the margins of production and purchasing will not put society on an ecologically and socially sustainable path. Confronting Consumption places consumption at the center of debate by conceptualizing "the consumption problem" and documenting diverse efforts to confront it. In Part 1, the book frames consumption as a problem of political and ecological economy, emphasizing core concepts of individualization and commoditization. Part 2 develops the idea of distancing and examines transnational chains of consumption in the context of economic globalization. Part 3 describes citizen action through local currencies, home power, voluntary simplicity, "ad-busting," and product certification. Together, the chapters propose "cautious consuming" and "better producing" as an activist and policy response to environmental problems. The book concludes that confronting consumption must become a driving focus of contemporary environmental scholarship and activism. |
תוכן
Plant a Tree Buy a Bike Save the World? 43 | |
Consumption Efficiency and an Economy of Care | |
Consumption and the Severing of Feedback 103 | |
Consumption and Environment in a Global Economy 133 | |
Overconsumption in a Global Economy 155 | |
The Impact of American | |
Adbusters Hip Media Campaign against Consumerism | |
The Local Currency Movement | |
The Case of Forest Certification 275 | |
The Home Power Movement as a New Practice | |
To Confront Consumption 317 | |
Notes 329 | |
The Voluntary Simplicity | |