Political Consumerism: Global Responsibility in Action PDF
Preview Political Consumerism: Global Responsibility in Action
more information - www.cambridge.org/9781107010093 PoliticalConsumerism PoliticalConsumerismcapturesthecreativewaysinwhichcitizens,consumers, andpoliticalactivistsusethemarketastheirarenaforpolitics.Thisbooktheo- rizes, describes, analyzes, compares, and evaluates the phenomenon of political consumerism and how it attempts to use market choice to solve complex glob- alizedproblems.Itinvestigatestheoreticallyandempiricallyhowandwhycon- sumerspracticecitizenshipandhavebecomeimportantpoliticalactors.Dietlind Stolle and Michele Micheletti describe consumers’ engagement as an example of individualized responsibility-taking, examining how political consumerism nudgesandpressurescorporationstochangetheirproductionpractices,andhow consumersemergeasaforceinglobalaffairs.Unlikeotherstudies,italsoevalu- ateswhetherandhowconsumeractionsbecomeeffectivemechanismsofglobal change.StolleandMichelettiofferacandiddiscussionofthelimitationsofpoliti- calconsumerismasaformofparticipationandasaproblem-solvingmechanism. DietlindStolleisarecognizedexpertonpoliticalparticipation,youthengagement, social capital, and diversity. She currently is the Director of the Quebec Inter- UniversityCentrefortheStudyofDemocraticCitizenship.Stolleistheprincipal investigatoroftheCanadianYouthSurveyandservesastheprincipalinvestigator, co-investigator,orcollaboratoroneightothernationalandinternationalfunded projects, including the 2011 and 2015 Canadian Election Studies. She is also the principal investigator of the Student Issues and Protest Survey in Quebec. Stolleisapastco-winneroftheAmericanPoliticalScienceAssociation’sAward for the best paper on European politics. Her scholarly achievements have been recognizedinrecentinvitationstoserveasaseniorresearchpartnerattheMax Planck Institute for the Study of Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Go¨ttingen, GermanyandontheadvisoryboardoftheInstitutefortheStudyofDemocracy in Aarau, Switzerland. At the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin she has received the prestigiousKarlW.DeutschProfessorship. MicheleMichelettiholdstheLarsHiertaChairofPoliticalScienceatStockholm University.ShewasamemberoftheSNSDemocraticAudit,thescientificboards oftheSwedishConsumerAgencyandtheSwedishSocietyforNatureConserva- tionandtheMinistryofFinance’sExpertGroupforEnvironmentalStudies.At present,sheisco-coordinatoroftheEuropeanConsortiumforPoliticalResearch (ECPR)StandingGrouponParticipationandMobilization.Shehascontributed toseveralparliamentaryinvestigationsinSwedenandconductedresearchforand advised Swedish civic associations and political parties. Her scientific network- building activities have been instrumental in putting political consumerism on the scholarly research agenda. Her publications include The Swedish Farmers’ Movement and Government Agricultural Policy (1990), Civil Society and State Relations in Sweden (1995), Political Virtue and Shopping: Individuals, Con- sumerism,andCollectiveAction (2003,2010)andco-editedbooksonpolitical participation and political consumerism (Creative Participation: Responsibility- takinginthePoliticalWorld(2010)andPolitics,Products,andMarkets:Explor- ingPoliticalConsumerismPastandPresent(2004)). Political Consumerism Global Responsibility in Action DIETLIND STOLLE McGillUniversity MICHELE MICHELETTI StockholmUniversity cambridgeuniversitypress Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107010093 ©DietlindStolleandMicheleMicheletti2013 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2013 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Stolle,Dietlind,1967– Politicalconsumerism:globalresponsibilityinaction/DietlindStolle,MicheleMicheletti. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-1-107-01009-3(hardback) 1.Politics,Practical. 2.Politicalparticipation. 3.Politicalethics. 4.Consumption (Economics)–Politicalaspects. I.Micheletti,Michele. II.Title. jf799.s687 2013 172(cid:2).1–dc23 2012044104 isbn978-1-107-01009-3Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsfor externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnotguarantee thatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents ListofFigures pageix ListofTables xi Acknowledgments xiii 1 ReconfiguringPoliticalResponsibility 1 Introduction 1 LimitsofandChallengestotheTraditionalModelofPolitical Responsibility 2 ReconfiguringPoliticalResponsibility 11 CorporationsasTargetsforPoliticalResponsibility-Taking 13 TheRoleoftheChoiceMechanisminSolvingPolitical Problems 19 TheReconfigurationofCitizenshipPractice 21 CharacterandOutlineoftheBook 26 2 ReconfiguringPoliticalParticipation 31 TheRiseofIndividualizedPoliticalResponsibility-Taking 31 PoliticalParticipationintheGlobalizedWorld 33 IndividualCitizensandPoliticalResponsibility-Taking 36 FromCitizentoCitizen-Consumer 39 SkepticismaboutPoliticalConsumerismasPolitical Participation 43 RiseofMarket-BasedPoliticalAction 46 PoliticalActionTransformed? 57 3 WhoArePoliticalConsumers? 59 Introduction 59 AddressingImportantDebatesintheEmpiricalStudyof PoliticalConsumerism 60 v vi Contents SocioeconomicPredictorsandInequalityofPolitical Consumerism 60 PoliticalAttitudes,Values,andPracticesofPolitical Consumers 64 SociodemographicProfileofPoliticalConsumers 68 EngenderedShopping 76 WomenandShopping:AHistoricalLook 80 Today’sWomenandShopping 81 PoliticalConsumers’PoliticalAttitudes,Norms,andBehaviors 83 1)PoliticalAttitudesandBehaviorsofPoliticalConsumers 84 2)ConsiderationsBehindShoppingChoices 87 3)CitizenshipNormsandEfficacy 89 Conclusion 91 4 MappingPoliticalConsumerisminWesternDemocracies 95 WithJean-Franc¸oisCre´pault Introduction 95 NationalVariationsinPoliticalConsumerism 96 ExplainingWeakandStrongPoliticalConsumerism 102 1)SocioeconomicResourcesandPostmodernization 104 2)EconomicOpenness 106 3)PricePremiums 108 4)PoliticalConsumerInfrastructure 111 5)PoliticalandInstitutionalFactors 117 6)SocialCapital 121 7)Religion 123 PoliticalConsumersAcrossCountries 126 Appendix 127 5 TheOrganizationalSettingforPoliticalConsumerism 135 Introduction 135 LabelingSchemesforPoliticalConsumerChoice 137 OrganicFoodActivismandLabelingSchemesforAgricultural Production 137 FairtradeLabelsforGlobalSocialJustice 143 Eco-LabelingforEnvironmentalConsumerChoice 146 LabelingSchemesforForestandMarineStewardship Certification 149 Anti-SweatshopPoliticalConsumerActivism 153 SociallyResponsibleInvestingtoPushforCorporateSocial Responsibility 159 OrganizationalSettingforFarmAnimalActivism 160 LifestylePoliticalConsumerism 163 CommonDevelopmentsandTrends 165 Contents vii 6 DiscursivePoliticalConsumerism 170 Introduction 170 DiscursiveTurninPoliticalConsumerism 171 AntibrandingasDiscursivePoliticalConsumerActivism 172 PopularBrandsandPoliticalConsumerism 175 TheCaseoftheNikeE-mailExchange 179 InvestigatingCultureJammingasIndividualized Responsibility-Taking 181 WhoTookPartintheContinuedNEECultureJam? 182 TheNEE’sPoliticalMessages 184 TheNEE’sMobilizingPotential 187 Long-TermImpactoftheNEE 190 TheEffectivenessofTargetingtheNikeIconicBrand 193 ConcludingRemarks 202 7 DoesPoliticalConsumerismMatter?Effectivenessand LimitsofPoliticalConsumerActionRepertoires 204 WithJean-Franc¸oisCre´pault Introduction 204 DoubtingEffectiveness 205 ConsumersAreMoreSelf-InterestedthanOther-Regarding 205 PoliticalConsumerismGoesAgainstCoreMarketPrinciples 206 PoliticalConsumerismIsNeoliberalism-Friendly 207 PoliticalConsumerismIsaNorthernProjectwitha NorthernAgenda 209 PoliticalConsumerismHasLimitedReach 209 DeterminingEffectiveness 210 HowEffectiveIsPoliticalConsumerismtoDate? 211 PoliticalConsumerActivistEffectsonConsumers 212 PoliticalConsumerActivistEffectsonCorporations 214 1)IsThereaRiseinCSR? 216 2)RiseinCorporatePartnershipswithNGOs 218 3)TheEffectsofConsumerBoycotts 219 4)RiseofEthicalBusiness 222 5)TheAdoptionofEthicalLinesbyMajorRetailers 223 TheCaseofProcter&Gamble 227 TheCaseofClasOhlson 228 PushingGovernmentintoPoliticalConsumerism 229 PoliticalConsumerism–Real-LifeProblemSolver? 233 EffectsonWages 233 ChildLabor 234 BenefitsofFairtradefortheFarmersinSouthern Cooperatives 236 ChallengesofFairtradeProduction 239 viii Contents FairtradeMarketsintheNorthAreStagnant 239 ProblemswithFLOGovernanceandMonitoring 240 TheFairtradeModelDoesNotAddressStructuralProblems FacedbytheSouth 241 AssessingEffectivenessonBalance 242 8 PoliticalConsumerism’sScopeandChallenges 244 Introduction 244 DifficultiesinthePracticeofPoliticalConsumerism 245 Access/VisibilityoftheProductorFirmintheSupply CommodityChain 245 Substitution/AvailabilityofAlternatives 247 ComplexityofProduction 248 ComplexityandScaleofPoliticalConsumerCauses 248 TheMaturingofPoliticalConsumerisminthe2000s 255 LabelingSchemesofthe2000s 255 Buycottsinthe2000s 257 DiscursivePoliticalConsumerisminthe2000s 258 LifestylePoliticsinthe2000s 260 RoleofMulti-StakeholdersandGovernment 261 TheoreticalImplicationsofStudyingPoliticalConsumerism 262 TheDiscussionaboutDefiningPoliticalParticipation 263 TheEffectivenessofPoliticalParticipation 265 FutureResearchinPoliticalConsumerism 267 RarelyStudiedCasesofPoliticalConsumerism 267 PoliticalConsumerisminDevelopingCountries 270 RoleoftheInternetandSocialMediaforPolitical Consumerism 272 NewMethodologicalApproachesinPoliticalConsumerism 273 TheFutureofPoliticalConsumerisminaNutshell 275 Bibliography 279 Index 345
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