Will Consumers Save The World? The Framing of Political Consumerism |
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Authors: | Eivind Jacobsen Arne Dulsrud |
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Institution: | (1) National Institute for Consumer Research, Postboks, Nydalen 4682, Oslo, N-0405, Norway |
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Abstract: | An active ethically conscious consumer has been acclaimed as the new hero and hope for an ethically improved capitalism. Through
consumers’ “voting” at the checkout, corporations are supposed to be held accountable for their conduct. In the literature
on political consumerism, this has mainly been approached as political participation and governance. In this article, we do
a critical review of this literature. We do so by questioning the existence of what we call a “generic active consumer model.”
At the core of this position, there is a belief that the active consumer is a universal entity, available across nations and
time. Instead we call for an approach that takes accord of the ways consumers and consumer roles are framed in interactive
processes in markets, governance structures, and everyday life. Consumers in different countries assess their responsibilities
and their powers as consumers differently due to different institutionalizations within distinctive contexts. We also must take into account how the inertia
of ordinary consumption and the moral complexities of everyday life restrict the adoption of an active consumerist role. Hence,
the debate on political consumerism should make for a more realistic notion of ethical consumer-sovereignty and its role in
improving the workings of capitalism. In our view, these findings have severe implications for understanding both theories
of political consumption and the dynamics of political consumption per se. |
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Keywords: | consumer sovereignty ethical shopping political consumerism |
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