The Earthscan Reader on Sustainable Consumption

by Tim Jackson (Editor)

Overview

Sustainable consumption is a controversial concept: politically, socially and intellectually. Consumption drives our economies and defines our lives; making it sustainable is an enormous and essential challenge. The World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 set in place a 10-year programme of effort by national governments to develop strategies for sustainable consumption and production. The problem of changing consumer behaviour and making our lives more sustainable continues to challenge opinion-formers and policy-makers alike. This book provides a coherent synthesis of key contributions to the literature on consumption and sustainability, comprising a substantive collection of selected papers and extracts from books, journals and institutional publications. Presented with a comprehensive introductory overview, the Reader also offers an invaluable 'route map' through the complex intellectual terrain relevant to the pursuit of sustainable consumption.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844071654
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/01/2006
Series:	Earthscan Reader Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

TIM JACKSON is Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey in the UK and Director of the ESRC Research Group in Lifestyles, Values and Environment (RESOLVE).

Table of Contents

Readings in Sustainable Consumption * Part I, Framing Sustainable Consumption * Consumption from a Human Development Perspective * Making Sense of Sustainable Consumption * Consumption and It's Externalities: Where Economy Meets Ecology * Pursuing More Sustainable Consumption by Analysing Household Metabolism in European Countires and Cities * Accounting for Sustainable Consumption: A Review of Studies of the Environmental Impacts of Households * Challenges for Sustainable Consumption Policy * Part II, Resisting Consumerism * The Dubious Rewards of Consumption * The New Commodity Fetishism * False Connections * Living More Simply * Voluntary Simplicity: Characterization, Select Psychological Implications and Societal Consequences * Learning Diderot's Lesson: Stopping the Upward Creep of Desire * Part III, Resisting Simplicity * The Politics of Sustainable Consumption: The Case of the Netherlands * The Poverty of Morality * Relative Poverty - Relative Communication * Two Alternative Economic Models of Why Enough Will Never Be Enough * The Evocative Power of Things: Consumer Goods and the Preservation of Hopes and Ideals * Consuming Goods and the Good of Consuming * Part IV, Reframing Sustainable Consumption * Efficiency and Consumption: Technology and Practice * Competing Discourses of Sustainable Consumption: Does the 'Rationalization of Lifestyles' Make Sense? 1 * Ethics of Consumption * Making Ends Meet - in the Household and on the Planet * The Costs and Benefits of Consuming * Consuming Paradise? Towards a Social and Cultural Psychology of Sustainable Consumption * Index

Editorial Reviews

'This useful book lays out the case for making consumption sustainable, or at least less unsustainable. Essays by a variety of distinguished authors explore the psychological as well as social and economic factors, and end with propositions about how to understand and manage ourselves.' Sir Crispin Tickell, Chancellor, University of Kent, UK 'Professor Jackson has compiled (and contributed to) an outstanding collection of eclectic papers on the multi-faceted conundrum of consumption. This comprehensive volume frames the problem, makes the case against consumerism, unmakes it again in an intriguing section on 'resisting simplicity' and ends by 'reframing sustainable consumption.' Anyone hoping to understand the role of consumption in placing (un)sustainability among the most intractable problems confronting the modern world'should begin with a thorough read of Jackson's new collection.' William E. Rees, Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada 'This is an invaluable guide to the innovative and urgent field of sustainable consumption. The way we live and the life of the planet are intertwined and this book is an excellent resource for those who wish to know.' Ed Mayo, Chief Executive, National Consumer Council, UK 'A comprehensive introduction provides an excellent guide through the complex arena of sustainable consumption.' Magazine of the IEMA 'I highly recommend this book... This reader presents a thoughtful selection of the best literature available in the field and is organized as a practical and essential framework for better understanding a very central topic at the core of many environmental issues.' Journal of Industrial Ecology

From the Publisher