Innovations In Sustainable Consumption

‘Few people who think about the state of the world are content with the status quo. The increasingly complex mix of economic, social, environmental and political problems at all scales requires new ways of thinking. It also requires new ways of integrating mutually supportive ideas and approaches, which is what this useful new book offers around the theme of sustainable consumption. The editors and contributors offer a breadth and depth of research from three domains: the new economics, socio-technical transitions and social practice, with a focus on consumption that meets the needs of people within the limits of the biosphere.’
– Peter A. Victor, York University, Canada

‘In recent years much hard thinking has been devoted to exploring the transition to true sustainability and consumption’s role in it. Innovations in Sustainable Consumption offers an impressive and enormously useful synthesis of this new work. Highly recommended.’
– James Gustave Speth, Vermont University Law School, US and author of America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy

‘This is a very timely and inspiring book. The editors have carefully compiled original contributions from leading researchers in sustainable consumption, reflecting the important work of the SCORAI network and beyond. This is a “must” read for those who want to know where research in sustainable consumption is really heading.’
– Lucia A. Reisch, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

This timely volume recognizes that traditional policy approaches to reduce human impacts on the environment through technological change – for example, emphasizing resource efficiency and the development of renewable energy sources – are insufficient to meet the most pressing sustainability challenges of the twenty-first century. Instead, the editors and contributors argue that we must fundamentally reconfigure our lifestyles and social institutions if we are to make the transition toward a truly sustainable future.

These expert contributions pinpoint specific areas in which innovation will be required. These include economic policies, socio-technical systems of production and consumption, and dominant social practices. Drawing on these and other diverse areas of scholarship, this fascinating book highlights new conceptual frameworks for achieving the twin sustainability goals of decreased resource use and enhanced individual and societal well-being.

Students, professors and policymakers in ecological economics, innovation studies, environmental policy and many other related fields will find much of interest in this pathbreaking volume.

Contents:

Preface

1. Societal Innovation in a Constrained World: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
Halina Szejnwald Brown, Philip J. Vergragt, and Maurie J. Cohen

PART I: NEW ECONOMICS
2. The Macroeconomics of Development Without Throughput Growth
Jonathan M. Harris

3. Ecological Macroeconomics: Implications for the Roles of Consumer-Citizens
Inge Røpke

4. Going for a Better Life
John Stutz

5. Welcome to the Consumption Line: Sustainability, Social Organization and the Wage-Price Gap
Emanuel Ubert and Michael M. Bell

PART II: SOCIO-TECHNICAL TRANSITIONS
6. The Dual Challenge of Sustainability Transitions: Different Trajectories and Criteria
René Kemp and Harro van Lente

7. Grassroots Innovations for Sustainable Energy: Exploring Niche-Development Processes Among Community-Energy Initiatives
Sabine Hielscher, Gill Seyfang and Adrian Smith

8. Sustainable Consumption, Energy and Failed Transitions: The Problem of Adaptation
David J. Hess

9. Clusters in Transition: Analysis of a Sustainable Energy-Cluster Initiative in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Jennie C. Stephens and Stephen M. McCauley

PART III: SOCIAL PRACTICE THEORIES
10. Sustainable Lifestyles in a New Economy: A Practice Theoretical Perspective on Change Behavior Campaigns and Sustainability Issues
Bente Halkier

11. The Cultural Dimension of Sustainable Consumption Practices: An Exploration in Theory and Policy
Gert Spaargaren

12. Taking Social Practice Theories on the Road: A Mixed-Methods Case Study of Sustainable Transportation
Emily Kennedy, Harvey Krahn and Naomi T. Krogman

Index