Environmental Social Movements and the New Politics of Consumption

The nature of environmental activism is in the midst of a major shift. While some groups remain focused on state or national policy battles, there is another strand of environmentalism growing in many countries, cities, and neighborhoods. People who would have previously supported lobbying or interest groups are increasingly becoming involved in practice-based movements and institutions focusing on where and how they get their basic needs of life. Broadly stated, environmental activism is changing in focus, goals, and practice. At the same time, we are seeing a growth in political consumerist and pressure groups that articulate social and environmental justice concerns, exerting pressure on local decision makers through where and how they shop. These groups move beyond individual boycotts or buycotts, and are instead grounded in mobilizing citizens to effect social and political change. These shifts are undoubtedly connected: environmental social movements are becoming consumption-based while political consumerism is becoming grounded in solidarity for environmental concerns. This workshop will explore this nexus from a broad multi-field perspective, by addressing a series of research questions that link social and political theory with analyses of the practices, discourses and values of citizens, consumers and social movements. The workshop will address the following, interrelated questions: 1. How can we explain the emergence of these new practices, movements and institutions in environmental politics? While diverse, what is it that unites them? Contributors can address these questions from a case-based or comparative perspective. 2. Where, and in what form, are these new practices, movements and institutions emerging and engaging different publics? 3. What do some of the recent developments in environmental action and practice add to our understanding of political participation? How can developments in political consumerism (and critiques thereof), inform the development of social movement and environmental political theories and vice versa?