The choice that disappeared: on the complexity of being a political consumer

Mickey Gjerris; Henrik Saxe

The choice that disappeared: on the complexity of being a political consumer

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This article criticise the notion that ethical consumerism can solve the ethical issues related to sustainability and food production through an analysis of the complexity of the concept of sustainability as related to food choices. The current trend of leaving the political discussion and regulation of the food area to the political consumer is shown to be problematic as shopping for sustainability might be much harder than initially believed due to the conflicting considerations entailed in the concept. Thus political consumerism may give way to fatalism as the complexity of choices become apparent and acts of citizenship increasingly are reduced to ethical consumerism supposed to be performed while shopping. The suggested solution is to let food policies be decided to a much higher degree through the political process engaging humans as citizens rather than consumers in the process.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The ethics of consumption : The citizen, the market and the law
Editors	Helena Röcklinsberg, Per Sandin
Number of pages	6
Place of Publication	Wageningen
Publisher	Wageningen Academic Publishers
Publication date	29 Aug 2013
Pages	154-159
ISBN (Print)	978-90-8686-231-3
ISBN (Electronic)	978-90-8686-784-4
Publication status	Published - 29 Aug 2013
Event	EurSafe 2013 - Uppsala, Sweden Duration: 11 Sept 2013 → 14 Sept 2013

Conference

Conference	EurSafe 2013
Country/Territory	Sweden
City	Uppsala
Period	11/09/2013 → 14/09/2013

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The choice that disappeared : on the complexity of being a political consumer. / Gjerris, Mickey; Saxe, Henrik.

The ethics of consumption: The citizen, the market and the law. ed. / Helena Röcklinsberg; Per Sandin. Wageningen : Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2013. p. 154-159.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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AB - This article criticise the notion that ethical consumerism can solve the ethical issues related to sustainability and food production through an analysis of the complexity of the concept of sustainability as related to food choices. The current trend of leaving the political discussion and regulation of the food area to the political consumer is shown to be problematic as shopping for sustainability might be much harder than initially believed due to the conflicting considerations entailed in the concept. Thus political consumerism may give way to fatalism as the complexity of choices become apparent and acts of citizenship increasingly are reduced to ethical consumerism supposed to be performed while shopping. The suggested solution is to let food policies be decided to a much higher degree through the political process engaging humans as citizens rather than consumers in the process.

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The choice that disappeared: on the complexity of being a political consumer

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