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Consumption and Ecological Economics: Towards Sustainability

Author

Editor

  • CC Pertsova

Summary, in English

In a finite world, developing a sustainable society requires both a more sustainable management of resources and a more sustainable management of human beings.Therefore deep understanding of processes underlying systems of production and consumption is needed. The question that is being asked in this chapter is whether neoclassical economics can provide solid ground to further advance the economic system and the society at large considering the known environmental limits, or approaches for future development and remedial actions should be looked for elsewhere? This chapter outlines main assumptions and limitations of the neoclassical economics. It demonstrates that the neoclassical economics that laid grounds for the current economic system is ill-suited to address the problems that the system created, e.g. environmental pollution and inequalities, and discusses how ecological economics addresses the identified deficits.Then, institutional and individual driving forces for consumption are analysed, drawing on contributions from sociology, ecological economics and psychology. This provides the basis for discussing the change process that is needed for reaching more sustainable consumption and better quality of life. It is argued that in studying consumption it is useful to think in terms of people, places and processes. In order to understand how the change process towards sustainable consumption should be shaped a5Es framework1 is suggested and discussed.

Publishing year

2007

Language

English

Pages

13-44

Publication/Series

c

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-1-60692-747-2