The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

From ethical consumerism to political consumption

From ethical consumerism to political consumption
From ethical consumerism to political consumption
This article reviews some of the recent literature in geography and related disciplines on ethical consumerism and political consumption. Many geographers began their engagement with questions of ethics, politics, consumption and consumerism inspired by critical theory, commodity chain analysis and a sense that geographical knowledge might have a central role to play in progressive social change. Since these early engagements, it has been established that consumption practices are rarely the practices of rational, autonomous, self-identified consumers, and so-called ethical consumption practices are rarely detached from organisations and their political activity. Over time, therefore, some researchers have gradually shifted their focus from consumer identities and knowledge to consumption practices, social networks, material infrastructures and organisations of various kinds. This shift in focus has implications – both for the field of political consumption and for how the discipline of geography relates to this field.
1749-8198
1870-1884
Clarke, Nick
4ed65752-5210-4f9e-aeff-9188520510e8
Clarke, Nick
4ed65752-5210-4f9e-aeff-9188520510e8

Clarke, Nick (2008) From ethical consumerism to political consumption. Geography Compass, 2 (6), 1870-1884. (doi:10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00170.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article reviews some of the recent literature in geography and related disciplines on ethical consumerism and political consumption. Many geographers began their engagement with questions of ethics, politics, consumption and consumerism inspired by critical theory, commodity chain analysis and a sense that geographical knowledge might have a central role to play in progressive social change. Since these early engagements, it has been established that consumption practices are rarely the practices of rational, autonomous, self-identified consumers, and so-called ethical consumption practices are rarely detached from organisations and their political activity. Over time, therefore, some researchers have gradually shifted their focus from consumer identities and knowledge to consumption practices, social networks, material infrastructures and organisations of various kinds. This shift in focus has implications – both for the field of political consumption and for how the discipline of geography relates to this field.

Text
From_ethical_consumerism_FAVPPR.pdf - Other
Download (91kB)

More information

Published date: October 2008

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 64186
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/64186
ISSN: 1749-8198
PURE UUID: 68698bc9-2192-4414-8288-7c64cf770966
ORCID for Nick Clarke: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9148-9849

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Dec 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:46

Export record

Altmetrics

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×