Mapping Networks of Environmental and Consumerist Action: A Comparative View

The politics of consumerism and the politics of environmentalism have been repeatedly portrayed as instances of broader models of “new politics”, combining attention for post-materialist issues with aspirations to experiment with alternative lifestyles and more individualistic styles of political participation. While these themes have been around for a few decades, the growing interest in globalization processes has assigned them an even more central role. Still, collective action on these themes remains primarily local. In this paper we explore the role of consumerist and environmental issues in shaping networks of citizens’ organizations in three very different types of settings: two British cities characterized by different political systems, Glasgow and Bristol (Mario Diani, The Cement of Civil Society: Studying Networks in Localities, Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015), and one located in a far less consolidated democracy, Cape Town (Mario Diani, Henrik Ernstson, and Lorien Jasny, “Modes of Coordination in Civic Fields: A Comparative Perspective on South Africa and UK”, 2015 Sunbelt, Brigthon, UK). Data from surveys of organizations mobilizing on collective interests will enable us to map the connections between consumer and environmental issues, as well as those linking them to other types of issues, addressing issues of social exclusion and urban regeneration from a multiplicity of perspectives.