YHYS 2013 - International YHYS Colloquium: Green Consumerism ? Exploring dilemmas of sustainable consumption

Green consumerism and sustainable consumption are understood to be important means to advance sustainable development and environment-friendly societies. Even though both terms are ambivalent and flexible enough to be used in many political arenas for diverse political purposes, they indicate an alternative. Raising awareness on how every-day consumption can have serious environmental consequences politicize personal and intimate consuming practices such as eating, clothing and transportation. Consumers in highly developed countries are challenged to ponder the environmental and ethical consequences of their choices. It is assumed, that diets should be sustainable, recycling self-evident and supporting renewable resources established practice.
However, one may ask if consumers have the political or economic power to change production systems, markets and global capitalism. Has the consumer movement become a serious political agent towards sustainable development? And how are the relationships between green consumerism, degrowth movement or other alternative economic models on the one hand and neoliberal pursuit for continuous economic growth on the other, related to each other and to the goal of sustainable development? Is it possible to consume more for economic growth and save the planet at the same time?
Deadline for abstract submission is October 25, 2013.
The aim of the 2013 YHYS (Finnish Society for Environmental Social Science) fall colloquium is to explore possibilities, contradictions and inconsistencies of green consumerism and sustainable consumption. Environmental social scientists and anyone with similar academic interest are invited to discuss and reflect relationship between consumer behavior and sustainable social transformations.
Colloquium is organized by Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä. It is part of the Finnish Society for Environmental Social Science (YHYS) annual fall Colloquiums and the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) annual Summer/Fall Institutes.