Sustainable Consumption: Practices, Habits and Politics

Abstract

As an economic activity, consumption refers to the selection, use, reuse, maintenance, repair, and disposal of goods and services. This article reviews the literature on consumption, including traditional accounts of consumption which see it as dictated by the machineries of consumer capitalism, and more recent theorizations which read it as an expression of individual agency and creativity. Transcending these two extremes and drawing upon the governmentality literature, the argument is made for a more nuanced approach, illustrating how consumer freedom and choice itself can operate as an effective form of power and governance. The article also reviews geographical contributions to an understanding of consumption, exploring some of the landscapes and scales that geographers have illuminated, as well as the spatial connections between consumption and other spheres of economic activity such as production, retailing, design, and advertising. The article concludes by suggesting that while cultural and social geographers have made important contributions to an understanding of the role of consumption in identity formation, more work is needed on the economic dimensions of consumption. This is particularly important in forging a politics centered on multiple sites and scales that can challenge the hegemony of global capitalism.