Nationalising local sustainability: lessons from the British wartime Utility furniture scheme
Nationalising local sustainability: lessons from the British wartime Utility furniture scheme
Analyses of sustainable design and commodity networks often make a priori assumptions about the capacity of markets to provide solutions to environmental problems; and have a tendency to celebrate local scales of action. This paper offers a contrasting account, in which the national state sought to carefully manage scarce natural resources and to ensure equitable consumption at a time of deep crisis. We utilise the historical example of the British wartime Utility furniture scheme in order to draw out three lessons for sustainable and equitable environmental practice. First, we argue that national states do not simply provide an institutional backdrop to sustainable production but rather can act as important organising agents. Second, the paper emphasises that sustainability is best achieved through interventions across a commodity network, beyond simply modifications to a single node such as design. Finally, we underscore the value of 'pragmatic centralism' in environmental decision-making, calling attention to the collaborative practices that underpinned the scheme. The example of Utility’s adaptive responses—borne out of crisis, scarcity and shortage during wartime—offers much that is of intrinsic interest to current concerns about resource consumption and the drivers of sustainability in commodity networks.
utility furniture, commodity network, state, equity, environmental sustainability, pragmatic centralism
86-95
Pinch, Philip
b7b51719-69a5-42de-8b65-434c83be6963
Reimer, Suzanne M.
d6594766-1967-4439-a8bb-14e52a6e2f5f
October 2015
Pinch, Philip
b7b51719-69a5-42de-8b65-434c83be6963
Reimer, Suzanne M.
d6594766-1967-4439-a8bb-14e52a6e2f5f
Pinch, Philip and Reimer, Suzanne M.
(2015)
Nationalising local sustainability: lessons from the British wartime Utility furniture scheme.
Geoforum, 65, .
(doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.07.014).
Abstract
Analyses of sustainable design and commodity networks often make a priori assumptions about the capacity of markets to provide solutions to environmental problems; and have a tendency to celebrate local scales of action. This paper offers a contrasting account, in which the national state sought to carefully manage scarce natural resources and to ensure equitable consumption at a time of deep crisis. We utilise the historical example of the British wartime Utility furniture scheme in order to draw out three lessons for sustainable and equitable environmental practice. First, we argue that national states do not simply provide an institutional backdrop to sustainable production but rather can act as important organising agents. Second, the paper emphasises that sustainability is best achieved through interventions across a commodity network, beyond simply modifications to a single node such as design. Finally, we underscore the value of 'pragmatic centralism' in environmental decision-making, calling attention to the collaborative practices that underpinned the scheme. The example of Utility’s adaptive responses—borne out of crisis, scarcity and shortage during wartime—offers much that is of intrinsic interest to current concerns about resource consumption and the drivers of sustainability in commodity networks.
Text
Pinch and Reimer Geoforum author original.pdf
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 17 July 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 July 2015
Published date: October 2015
Keywords:
utility furniture, commodity network, state, equity, environmental sustainability, pragmatic centralism
Organisations:
Economy, Society and Space
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 379368
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/379368
ISSN: 0016-7185
PURE UUID: 5fce0770-359c-43bb-9791-41246835e106
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Date deposited: 24 Jul 2015 13:44
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:20
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Author:
Philip Pinch
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