EBOOK: Radical Consumption: Shopping for Change in Contemporary Culture

Ethical consumption, fair trade, consumer protests, brand backlashes, green goods, boycotts and downshifting: these are all now familiar consumer activities - and in some cases, are almost mainstream. They are part of the expanding field of 'radical consumption' in a world where we are encouraged to shop for change. But just how radical are these forms of consumption? This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary radical consumption, analyzing its possibilities and problems, moralities, methods of mediation and its connections to wider cultural formations of production and politics. Jo Littler argues that we require a more expansive vocabulary and to open up new approaches of enquiry in order to understand the area's many contradictions, strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on a number of contemporary theories, terms and debates in media and cultural studies, she uses a range of specific case studies to bring theory to life. By analysing practices of radical consumption, the book explores a number of key questions: Is ethical consumption merely a sop for the middle classes? What are the contradictions of green consumption? Should we understand corporate social responsibility as a form of consumer-oriented greenwash? Who benefits from the new forms of cosmopolitan caring consumption? Can such forms of consumption ever move beyond their niche market status to become an effective political force? Can we really buy our way to a better, more equitable or sustainable future? Radical Consumption is important reading for cultural, media and sociology students. The increasingly conspicuous problems of contemporary consumerism (particularly social exploitation and environmental destruction) combined with the ever-expanding niche markets of neoliberal consumer capitalism have led, in recent years, to a skein of 'alternative' consumer practices. Ethical consumption, fair trade, consumer protests, brand backlashes, green goods, boycotts and downshifting: these are all now familiar consumer activities - and in some cases, are almost mainstream. This book suggests we can understand this phenomenon as an expanding field of 'radical consumption': for this is a world in which we are increasingly encouraged to shop for change. By examining their practices, precedents and politics, this book asks: just how radical are these forms of 'radical consumption'? It argues that we need a more expansive vocabulary and to open up approaches of enquiry in order to understand the area's many contradictions, strengths and weaknesses."Radical Consumption" therefore draws on a number of contemporary theories, terms and debates in media and cultural studies, including cosmopolitanism, reflexivity, cultural economies and ethics. By doing so, it raises a number of questions, including: Is ethical consumption merely a sop for the middle classes? Can such forms of consumption ever move beyond their niche market status to become an effective political force? Should we understand corporate social responsibility as a form of consumer-oriented greenwash? And can we really buy our way to a better, more equitable or sustainable future? "Radical Consumption" takes a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary radical consumption, analysing its possibilities and problems, mobile moralities, methods of mediation and its connections to wider cultural formations of production and politics Annotation Ethical consumption, fair trade, consumer protests, brand backlashes, green goods, boycotts and downshifting: these are all now familiar consumer activities - and in some cases, are almost mainstream. They are part of the expanding field of 'radical consumption' in a world where we are encouraged to shop for change. But just how radical are these forms of consumption? This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary radical consumption, analyzing its possibilities and problems, moralities, methods of mediation and its connections to wider cultural formations of production and politics. Jo Littler argues that we require a more expansive vocabulary and to open up new approaches of enquiry in order to understand the area's many contradictions, strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on a number of contemporary theories, terms and debates in media and cultural studies, she uses a range of specific case studies to bring theory to life. By analysing practices of radical consumption, the book explores a number of key questions: Is ethical consumption merely a sop for the middle classes? What are the contradictions of green consumption? Should we understand corporate social responsibility as a form of consumer-oriented greenwash? Who benefits from the new forms of cosmopolitan caring consumption? Can such forms of consumption ever move beyond their niche market status to become an effective political force? Can we really buy our way to a better, more equitable or sustainable future? Radical Consumption is important reading for cultural, media and sociology students "This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary radical consumption, analyzing its possibilities and problems, moralities, methods of mediation and its connections to wider cultural formations of production and politics." "Jo Littler argues that we require a more expansive vocabulary and need to open up new approaches of enquiry in order to understand the area's many contradictions, strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on a number of contemporary theories, terms and debates in media and cultural studies, she uses a range of specific case studies to bring theory to life." "Radical Consumption is important reading for cultural, media and sociology students."--Jacket Half title page......Page 2 Title page ......Page 4 Copyright page ......Page 5 Contents ......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 1 Sanctimonious shopping?: Ethical consumption as a ‘crisis of moralism’......Page 15 2 Cosmopolitan caring: globalization, charity and the activist-consumer ......Page 32 3 Greenwash, whitewash, hogwash?: CSR and the media management of consumer concern......Page 59 4 Interior economies: anti-consumer activism and the limits of reflexivity......Page 79 5 Ecologies of green consumption......Page 101 Notes ......Page 126 References ......Page 133 Index ......Page 150 Back cover ......Page 156 Draws on a number of contemporary theories and debates in media and cultural studies, including reflexivity, cultural economies and ethics. This work examines contemporary radical consumption, analyses its possibilities and problems, mobile moralities, methods of mediation and its connections to cultural formations of production and politics