Toy Consumption as Political : Challenges for Making Dreams Come True

This chapter looks at political consumerism in the toy sector, offering a brief history of consumer concerns and distinguishing among four strands of political consumerist research in this sector. A primary factor facilitating political consumerism of toys is that toy companies are extremely concerned about their reputation. Manufacturers cannot assume that parents and other carers do their usual risk-benefit analysis with the same level of risk acceptance concerning toys. Factors constraining political consumerism in this sector include long product chains and difficulties in discovering unethical practices and dangerous substances. Actors involved in the political consumerism of toys come from all societal spheres, including retailers. Regulators take action when risks have been discovered by civil society actors or scientists, but international divergence in regulation constitutes an obstacle to concerted action. Future research needs to examine synergies and trade-offs among various risks in toy products

Attityder och delaktighet vid etablering av vindkraft till havs

The political objectives on national and international levels towards a larger proportion of renewable energy require considerable planning activities on a local level. These activities inevitably must relate to the local community and its various groups; their culture, economy, social activities as well as their views on environmental problems and nature values. This applies to all energy plants. Wind power has previously been regarded as small-scale in character, as it has often been built as small groups of windmills. In recent years, wind power projects on a larger scale have been developed and established, making wind power more significant for the local community and its inhabitants. The present report is based on a study of views expressed by locals as regards a special kind of wind-power plant, namely large-scale, offshore wind power. The report aims at examining the coordination between different stakeholders; decision-makers, communities and entrepreneurs concerning two wind power projects: Lillgrund in The Sound (Öresund), and Utgrunden II in the Kalmar Strait (Kalmarsund). The report is intended to provide an understanding of attitudes and perceptions of risks and possibilities of various local stakeholders in these two cases. Conceptual tools are borrowed from our own studies as well as other researchers’ previous studies of attitudes, values, and forms of public participation. Since the study objective has been to seek the stakeholders’ own formulations of problems and opportunities concerning the projects, we have used a qualitative research design. Three types of techniques have been used to gather information: document analysis, field observations and in-depth interviews. Important to note is that the report is not based on statistical data of public attitudes. Positive as well as negative attitudes towards the two wind power projects have been analyzed in both regions. The positive attitude is mainly based on ethical values (wind is seen as an environmentally sound energy source that we should invest in), and for some also on material values (projects can create jobs and economic growth in the local community). The negative attitude is partly based on aesthetic values (scenery and local nature values are thought to be threatened) and a combination of substantive and ethical values (wind power is seen as unprofitable and inefficient). The analysis shows that there is need for increased knowledge, both through the provision of facts about economic and technical conditions of wind power and, as a reversed mediation of knowledge, by better understanding of local stakeholders’ conceptions of wind power projects. Criticism of wind power is largely based on a view that it could not be an effective way to produce energy, and that it could not possibly bear its own costs. Thus, wind power entrepreneurs should clearly show environmental benefits, profitability and efficiency in a specific project draft. Moreover, negative emotions towards wind power projects are closely associated with aesthetic values. We were able to note that the scale of the projects had given rise to greater hesitation and more concern about visual intrusion. It is therefore essential to take human experience seriously, for example by maintaining a dialogue around each specific project from an aesthetic point of view in order to establish what local values and experiences are thought to be threatened, and how the project might be altered

Maten märks: förutsättningar för konsumentmakt

Många människor anser sig numera ha större makt i rollen som konsumenter än som medborgare som röstar i partival. Som konsumenter kan vi idag ta ställning till en rad olika anspråk som görs på produkter och tjänster. Hur ser vi konsumenter på livsmedel som genom olika märken påstås ha unika egenskaper i produktionsledet: för miljön, för konsumentens hälsa, för arbetsförhållanden för fabriks- och jordbruksarbetarna, för djurens väl och ve, eller för det egna produktionslandets välstånd? Förekommer motsättningar och konkurrens mellan olika miljö- och varumärken? Vilka aktörer har makt att vara med och bestämma om vad som ska räknas som miljövänligt, socialt rättvis eller djurvänlig produktion? Går det – om det är önskvärt – att göra den gröna och etiska konsumtionens informationsredskap mer “demokratiska”? Finns det viktiga egenskaper hos varor och produktion som måste falla utanför konsumentmakten? Dessa frågor, som alla behandlas i boken, knyter an till frågan om vilka förutsättningar konsumenter egentligen har att fatta fria och politiska beslut som även går bortom var och ens egennytta. I den allmänna samhällsdebatten ses konsumenters makt av allt fler aktörer som en central förutsättning för att miljöproblem och andra samhällsproblem ska kunna lösas. Därmed blir en ökad kunskap om konsumentmaktens förutsättningar extra betydelsefull. Boken riktar sig till studenter, forskare, myndigheter och till alla andra med intresse för samhällsvetenskap och humaniora med inrikning på konsument- och livsmedelsfrågor, samt andra livsmedelsrelaterade vetenskaper. Mikael Klintman är docent och universitetslektor vid Forskningspolitiska institutet, Lunds universitet. Magnus Boström är docent, lektor och forskare vid institutionen för livsvetenskaper, Södertörns Högskola. Lena Ekelund är fil dr i nationalekonomi och docent i trägårdsvetenskap med ekonomisk inriktning vid Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet i Alnarp. Anna-Lisa Lindén är professor vid sociologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet

Arguments Surrounding Organic and Genetically Modified Food Labelling: A Few Comparisons

This paper compares reasoning surrounding organic food labelling with arguments concerning mandatory GM labelling. Focus is placed on argumentative cross-overs, defined as cases where actors or organizations use a certain type of argumentation for one issue (for example, modes of food production), and shift into using their opponent's type of argumentation for a closely related issue (for example, food labelling). The paper is a textual analysis of the arguments across non-governmental organizations, scientists, policy-makers and corporations. Argumentative cross-overs are not only of theoretical interest. They run the risk of, for instance, making consumers assume that all struggles for 'stricter food labelling' will lead to more reliable labelling information and to a higher level of consumer empowerment. It is important to call for more nuanced descripticns of food labelling, and to make the public aware of the cross-overs, which often involve vast exaggerations of what food labelling can, or cannat, tell us

Citizen-Consumers and Evolution: Reducing Environmental Harm through Our Social Motivation

[Based on the publisher's comments:] This book reflects upon and critiques the potential of citizen-consumer's to alter their natural consuming habits and to 'shop ethically, 'care for the environment' and 'think glocally' so as to reduce environmental harm. Developing a substantial challenge to the existing accepted theories, this book sets out a groundbreaking approach to understanding citizen-consumer behavior, by forging a productive alliance between environmental sociology and evolutionary theory, arguing that is is social motivation rather than rational choice in a traditional sense that is the driving force behind human agency. Recognizing the importance of social motivation is essential as a basis for the advancement of sustainable development and adaptation of the norms and practices of citizen-consumers, markets, and politics

Ambiguous framings of political consumerism: means or end, product or process orientation?

For dealing with various societal problems, 'political'/'ethical'/'responsible' consumerism is often discussed as an effective democratic and participatory tool. However, political consumerism – along with its tools, such as product labelling – is often conceived and discussed in oversimplified ways. Instead, the tension between scientific complexity, knowledge uncertainty and a codified, standardized label involves extensive political strategy, interest conflicts and simplified framings of the consumers' roles as political decision makers. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how criteria for organic food labelling have been simplified, or framed, within various versions of political consumerism in policy debates. The more general purpose is to examine variations of what consumerism may entail theoretically and practically. Examples are chosen of organic food labelling in the US. The analysis is based on framing theory. The first distinction is made between framings surrounding the extrinsic and intrinsic values of consumerism (i.e. consumer empowerment towards an external goal, or as an overriding principle of democracy). The second distinction is between product- and process-oriented consumerism (i.e. consumer empowerment with regard to the purchased goods or concerning the 'invisible' production and disposal processes). These distinctions may facilitate critical examinations of criteria, processes and communication of consumer-related policies