Perspectives on Sustainable Consumption

The problem of sustainability has received serious attention since the Club of Rome pointed to the limits of growth in 1972. Addressing ecological, economic and social issues, it is still a major – perhaps the biggest – challenge humanity faces. The problem demands attention by actors from all social levels. On the micro-level, sustainable consumption is often regarded as the major way how individual consumers can contribute to sustainable development. By now a growing number of people are aware that many consumption habits have to be changed because they are in conflict with the goal of sustainable development. Yet, there is a gap between knowledge and action. Much research has been done in the last 30 years on sustainable consumption, exploring the motivations, practices, opportunities, and drivers for sustainable consumption from economic, psychological and sociological perspectives. Despite this multidisciplinary effort and the often interdisciplinary nature of research on sustainable consumption, there is room for broadening the perspectives further. In particular, the link between political participation and sustainable consumption as a political statement as well as the link between various forms and objectives of political consumption deserves more attention. Further, the impact of societal inequality on sustainable consumption has not gained much attention. Especially research on the interaction between inequality, issues of security and precariousness, political participation and consumption behavior is lacking. 

In the special issue and the corresponding seminar (IUC Dubrovnik, http://www.iuc.hr/, 20.-24. April 2015), we would like to discuss our topic in an adequately broad and interdisciplinary way.  We are particularly interested in questions such as:

• Inequality (e.g., precariousness) and sustainable consumption 
• Citizenship and consumption
• Sustainable consumption as a political statement
• Quantitative and qualitative empirical studies on these issues

This is not an exhaustive list.

Deadline

Potential contributors to the seminar at the IUC Dubrovnik are encouraged to submit an abstract of 1-2 pages before January 31st, 2015 electronically via Management Revue’s online submission system at http://www.management-revue.org/submission/ using ‘IUC Dubrovnik’ as article section.

All contributors to the seminar are invited to submit their paper for the special issue of management revue. Full papers must be submitted by July 31st, 2015. All contributions will be subject to a double-blind review. Papers invited to a ‘revise and resubmit’ are due October 31st, 2015. Please submit your papers electronically via the online submission system at http://www.management-revue.org/submission/ using ‘SI Sustainable Consumption’ as article section.

Hoping to hear from you!

Ortrud Leßmann (o.lessmann@hsu-hh.de),  Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg (Germany)

Wenzel Matiaske,  Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg (Germany)

Torsten Masson, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ Leipzig (Germany)

Simon Fietze, University of Southern Denmark