Ethical Consumption as a Reflexive Project. Negotiation of Consumer Identities through Ethical Labelling

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1 Ethical Consumption as a Reflexive Project Negotiation of Consumer Identities through Ethical Labelling

2 Overview Background: - Introduction to the ethical consumption phenomenon - Key research approaches and gaps Theoretical framework: ideas and concepts - Consumption and identity - Ethical consumption and reflexivity - Ethical labelling: identity, reflexivity and consumption of meanings

3 Introduction into the ethical consumption Key events in the modern history of environmental thinking: - Rio Earth Summit World Summit on Sustainable Development Rio+10 conference in Johannesburg 2002 Definition: ethical consumption refers to a range of consumption practices and choices informed by individuals morals, i.e. their understanding of what is right or wrong with respect to the surrounding contexts (natural environment, animal welfare, human rights)

4 Research approaches and gaps Question Approach Gap What is the nature of the ethical consumption phenomenon? How can we explain consumers ethical shopping behaviour? What is the role of ethical labelling in ethical shopping? A mode of political engagement Agency-oriented (theory of planned behaviour) Structure-oriented (governmentality theory) An information tool Understanding the individual agency and identity imperatives of an ethical consumer A theoretical perspective accounting for consumer subjectivity, reflexive ability as well as structural factors and social conditions Sociological perspective: symbolic and identityenhancing value of ethical

5 Theoretical framework: linking onsumption, identity and reflexivity Consumption and Identity Identity is Rome to which all discussions of modern Western consumption lead (Gabriel and Lang, 2006, p. 81) From consumption as an indication of class to consumption as an expression of individual identity A shift from a product s exchange and use value (its price and functions it serves to) to its identity value Today, people define themselves through the messages they transmit to others via the goods and practices that they possess and display. They manipulate or manage appearances, thereby creating and sustaining a selfidentity (Warde, 1997, p. 68).

6 Theoretical framework: linking onsumption, identity and reflexivity Consumption and Identity Food consumption as a major site of identity construction Warde s (1997) antinomies of taste: - novelty and tradition - health and indulgence - economy and extravagance - convenience and care Fifth antinomy of ethical / unethical

7 Theoretical framework: linking onsumption, identity and reflexivity Consumption and Identity Ethical consumption and identity - the story of who we are (Gabriel and Lang, 2006, p. 94) - a fantasy of what we wish to be like ( Gabriel and Lang, 2006, p. 94) - How we want to be seen as if you're putting Cafedirect [Cafedirect is a brand of fair trade coffee in the UK] in your trolley and driving around with it then you're saying to other people I'm clever enough to know the difference between this and Nescafe (Shaw et al., 2005, p. 190)

8 Theoretical framework: linking onsumption, identity and reflexivity Ethical consumption as a reflexive project Reflexivity the regular exercise of the mental ability, shared by all normal people, to consider themselves in relation to their (social) contexts and vice versa (Archer, 2007, p. 4) Social action as a reflexive project: <Concerns Projects Practices> Concerns are those internal goods that they care about most, the precise constellation of which makes for their concrete singularity as persons (Archer, 2007, p. 7)

9 Theoretical framework: linking onsumption, identity and reflexivity Ethical consumption as a reflexive project Ethical consumption as a reflexive project of an identity-seeking consumer: - defines his/her ultimate concerns and in them and through them his/her identity; - develops an appropriate consumption project; - realizes the project through corresponding shopping practices

10 Theoretical framework: linking onsumption, identity and reflexivity The role of ethical labelling Practical - Informs consumer choices, enables ethical product decisions Symbolic - Construction of products ethicality - Reduction of commodity fetishism: at least a partial antidote to the commodity fetish (Brown and Getz, 2008, p. 1188). - Generation of consumer reflexivity: reflexivity turn on the consumer s reading of the label (DuPuis, 2000 cited in Guthman, 2002, p. 302) - Revival of the sense of responsibility, motivation for ethical

11 Research questions What is an ethical consumer identity? What are the different dimensions of an ethical consumer identity? What are the dynamics of an ethical consumer identity how is it constructed, sustained and manifested through ethical food choices? What is the role of labelling in the symbolic construction and representation of products as ethical?

References Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), 179-211. Archer, M. S. (2007).

12 References Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), Archer, M. S. (2007). Making our way through the world: Human reflexivity and social mobility. Cambridge University Press. Barnett, C., Cloke, P., Clarke, N., & Malpass, A. (2010). Globalizing responsibility: The political rationalities of ethical consumption. John Wiley & Sons. Brown, S., & Getz, C. (2008). Privatizing farm worker justice: Regulating labor through voluntary certification and labeling. Geoforum, 39(3), Gabriel, Y., & Lang, T. (2006). The unmanageable consumer. Sage. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: self and identity in the late modern age. Cambridge: Polity. Chicago Guthman, J. (2002). Commodified meanings, meaningful commodities: Re thinking production consumption links through the organic system of provision. Sociologia ruralis, 42(4), Middlemiss, L. (2010). Reframing individual responsibility for sustainable consumption: lessons from environmental justice and ecological citizenship. Environmental Values, 19(2), Shaw, D., Grehan, E., Shiu, E., Hassan, L., & Thomson, J. (2005). An exploration of values in ethical consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 4(3), Warde, A. (1997). Consumption, food and taste. Sage.

13 Thank You Yana Manyukhina

Principles of Sociology

Principles of Sociology DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS [Academic year 2017/18, FALL SEMESTER] Lecturer: Dimitris Lallas Principles of Sociology 4th Session Sociological