A critical appraisal of Sustainable Consumption and Production research: The reformist, revolutionary and reconfiguration positions

By Frank W. Geels, Andrew McMeekin, Josephine Mylan, Dale Southerton. 2015

427 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract This conceptual review article provides a critical appraisal of Sustainable Consumption and Production research, which is currently framed by two generic positions. First, the ‘reformist’ position, which focuses on firms pursuing green eco-innovations and consumers buying eco-efficient products, represents the political and academic orthodoxy. Second, the ‘revolutionary’ position, which is a radical critique of the mainstream, advocates the abolishment of capitalism, materialism, and consumerism, and promotes values such as frugality, sufficiency, and localism. We find this dichotomous debate problematic, because it is intellectually stifling and politically conservative (in its outcomes). To move beyond this dichotomy, we propose a third position, ‘reconfiguration’, which focuses on transitions in socio-technical systems and daily life practices and accommodates new conceptual frameworks. For each of the three positions, we discuss: (1) the scale and type of change, (2) views on consumption and production in exemplary approaches, (3) underlying theoretical, epistemological and normative orientations, (4) policy implications, and (5) critical appraisal. The conclusion compares the three positions, provides arguments for the fruitfulness of the reconfiguration-position and offers four critical reflections about future Sustainable Consumption and Production research agendas.

Subfields: Food Science, Marketing

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1fd4e55fe6dd9bbcd28d34538010da8ef9b4a5fb

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Citations in the corpus

Studies and Investigation about the Attitude towards Sustainable Production, Consumption and Waste Generation in Line with Circular Economy in Romania (2018, background): “, as in the consumption of raw material, consumers of labor and consumers of other producers’ products and services [32,33].”
Evaluating sustainability transitions pathways: Bridging analytical approaches to address governance challenges (2015, positive): “Getting relevant actors to engage with the idea of transitions and transformations requires more integrated tools for understanding and guiding these complex societal processes, but also the emergence of governance styles that are more suited to deal with the challenges at hand (Geels et al., 2015).”
Reconfiguring Urban Sustainability Transitions, Analysing Multiplicity (2017, background): “This ‘would pay more attention to adoption and adjustments in existing systems and the (re)alignments between multiple new and old elements that reconfigure system architectures’ [50] (p.”
Ordering theories: Typologies and conceptual frameworks for sociotechnical change (2017, positive): “Geels et al. (2015) elaborate that relational and processual approaches conceptualize units of analysis as heterogeneous configurations with co-evolving elements, and envision agency as structured by routines, rules, habits and conventions.”
Low carbon lifestyles: A framework to structure consumption strategies and options to reduce carbon footprints (2016, background): “The role of consumers and their potential scope for action towards mitigating climate change has been vividly discussed in the literature (Darnton et al., 2011; Geels et al., 2015).”
Food as Commons or Commodity? Exploring the Links between Normative Valuations and Agency in Food Transition (2017, background): “Counter-hegemonic approaches are extremely political [154] and thus they can be politically unpalatable for many constituencies and policy makers [115].”
Sufficiency transitions: A review of consumption changes for environmental sustainability (2021, background): “Third, several scholars have called for emphasis on how to achieve transitions towards sustainability in general and sufficiency in particular (Akenji et al., 2016; Geels et al., 2015; Miller et al., 2014).”