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“Sustainable consumption” as a new phase in a governmentalization of consumption

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Abstract

With the rise of environmental themes and the increasing support of the “sustainable development” objective, public institutions have shown a renewed interest in the sphere of consumption. During the 1990s, a new dimension in public regulation was developed for the more downstream part of economic circuits, precisely to eliminate the negative effects of consumption and to be able to subject it to criteria of “sustainability.” The initiatives taken thus far have in fact mainly targeted the general population, primarily considered as a set of individual consumers. The latter are expected to become aware of their share of responsibility in the pressures exerted on natural resources and environments, and thus of the need to adapt their consumption habits in order to improve the situation. This article proposes to seize this dynamic, which seems to be expanding. It examines the discursive and programmatic frameworks, which together redefine the role of both the consumer and the citizen to arrive at an individual who can be interested and mobilized in favor of new recommendations. It analyzes the logic from which an effort attempting to make acts of consumption conform to renewed requirements has been established in its wake. This allows for a better understanding of the institutional devices that have been favored, in particular insofar as they appear to be the result of a constrained space of possibilities. In brief, it is a governmentality that tends to be deployed, although it is also likely to give rise to tensions.

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Notes

  1. The term “governmentalization” is used in a sense close to the one referred to by Michel Foucault, which is of interest because of the links made between government conduct and government of conduct (For an explanation, see Laborier and Lascoumes 2005). The term “governmentalization” will be adopted particularly to designate the historical and collective process that is deployed by the grouping of rationalized interventions in the field of practices and by the development of technologies that aim to guide these practices.

  2. This new phase is more easily perceptible thanks to a growing number of historical or sociological works that show to what extent the roots of the state’s interest in other aspects of consumption are anchored. See, for example, Pinto (1992) and Chatriot et al. (2005).

  3. See World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). The definition that is most often cited can be found in this report: “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 43). In summary, the common vision of “sustainable development” is characterized by the desire to reconcile economic, ecological, and social spheres.

  4. For a report on initiatives taken by international governmental organizations, see Fuchs and Lorek (2005).

  5. These practices have been used in the past, even if the stakes were different. See Marcus-Steiff (1977).

  6. Considering also that the institutional evolutions are largely linked to the deployment of a “governmentality,” to reuse a conceptual angle from the authors who developed the perspective formulated by Michel Foucault. See Dean (1999), Miller and Rose (2008). The advantage of such an approach is that it allows forces, political rationalities, programs, discursive supports, practices, and technologies by which the activities of the government are constructed, organized, and deployed, to all be held together and structured in an analysis.

  7. See Callon (1986) and Latour (1987). Such a process contributes to both putting problems of different realms in the same context and reorganizing the network of individuals that could participate in solving the problem. In this process in which the intermediaries used in a more or less material form are numerous, Michel Callon distinguishes four steps that could overlap: problematization (interdefinition of actors and definition of obligatory passage points), devices of interessement, enrollment, and the mobilization of allies.

  8. One point of interest regarding the framework of analysis proposed by Nikolas Rose and Peter Miller is that it targets precisely this type of overlapping between logics of government at a distance and logics of translation, which encourages a combination of the perspectives of Michel Foucault and those of Michel Callon and Bruno Latour. See Rose and Miller (1992) (reprinted in Miller and Rose 2008).

  9. This dynamic is all the more expansive in that it proves to be supported by a growing number of discursive intermediaries (brochures, booklets, reports, articles, internet sites, etc.) and artefactual intermediaries (labels, signs, etc.) that are used in the following analysis as an open corpus.

  10. On this last point, see Sanches (2005) and Dubuisson-Quellier (2010).

  11. In ways that may however still seem weak, compared to the challenges commonly reported. See Fuchs and Lorek (2005).

  12. Participating countries have pledged to support the development of an Action Plan on sustainable consumption and production. This approach has taken the form of an international process (known as the Marrakech Process) and should lead to a 10-Year Framework of Programmes, in which France is contributing. For an overview, see Takase (2005).

  13. A more complete comprehension of the discursive dimension can help to link the field of thought and practice, as in the approaches inspired by Michel Foucault. See Sharp and Richardson (2001).

  14. The framework of analysis proposed by Nikolas Rose and Peter Miller allows the importance of this programmatic dimension to be highlighted when social groups are subjected to forms of government. See Rose and Miller (1992). As the authors specify: “Programs presuppose that the real is programmable, that it is a domain subject to certain determinants, rules, norms and processes that can be acted upon and improved by authorities. They make the objects of government imaginable in such a way that their ills appear susceptible to diagnosis, prescription and cure by calculating and normalizing intervention” (Rose and Miller 1992, p. 183).

  15. Bente Halkier reminds readers that this “responsibilizing” tendency concerning the consumer is perceptible on a large scale and can also be found in a number of European countries. See Halkier (1999), especially p. 25–26.

  16. For an expert point of view, see for example Worldwatch Institute (2004).

  17. This is one of the objectives put forward by the French government on a large scale during the first governmental seminar for sustainable development on November 28th, 2002: “For sustainable development to truly be at the heart of public policy, the citizen himself, an essential actor of this approach, must be aware of the challenges and feel responsible for this problem. And yet to be able to play this role efficiently and with conviction, the citizen must be trained and informed, know what sustainable development is, understand the importance of the interactions between the economic, social, and environmental domains, and consider the consequences of his actions and everyday choices” (“Thème 4 : Information, sensibilisation, éducation, participation du public,” in Séminaire gouvernemental sur le développement durable, Dossier d’information, Service d’information du Gouvernement, 28 November 2002, p. 66, present author’s translation). Bold face text in original document.

  18. “Campagnes de communication,” http://www2.ademe.fr/servlet/KBaseShow?sort=−1&cid=96&m=3&catid=12439, accessed on January 19, 2006 (present author’s translation).

  19. European Consumer Day “Sustainable consumption,” 15 March 2005, European Economic and Social Committee, Brussels.

  20. The workshop led to the publication of a document with the same title: OECD (1999).

  21. “Foreword,” OECD (1999), p. 3.

  22. See “Aider le consommateur à devenir acteur du développement durable,” in Comité interministériel pour le développement durable, Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable, 3 June 2003, p. 3.

  23. Ibid., p. 3 (present author’s translation).

  24. Renaud Dutreil, Secretary of State for SMB, commerce, artisan, liberal professions, and consumption, during his opening remarks of the Constitutive Assembly. The passage appears on the Internet site, on the home page of the “purpose of the association” (http://www.consodurable.org/assoc_objet_detail.php?id=2).

  25. In June, 2007, she was named Secretary of the State in charge of Ecology in the second government of Prime Minister François Fillon.

  26. Also found on the home page of the “purpose of the association,” http://www.consodurable.org/assoc_objet_detail.php?id=2 (present author’s translation).

  27. On the page “Particuliers” under the heading of “Développement durable” on the site of the ADEME, http://www2.ademe.fr/servlet/KBaseShow?sort=−1&cid=96&m=3&catid=12396, accessed on January 19, 2006.

  28. Devenir éco-consommateur, acheter et consommer mieux, ADEME, March, 2004. This can also be found on the Internet site of the ADEME (http://www.ademe.fr/particuliers/Fiches/achet_et_conso/index.htm#, accessed January 19, 2006).

  29. Site accessed May 4, 2007.

  30. Among the numerous campaigns, see for example the one about saving energy launched at the beginning of the 1990s by the British government and analyzed by Steve Hinchliffe. In the campaign the same lines of reasoning that have been widely communicated can be found (highlighting global implications of local actions, etc.). See Hinchliffe (1996).

  31. Press release, “Lancement de la campagne du ministère de l’Ecologie et du Développement durable, sur le changement climatique et la biodiversité signée Publicis Consultants,” Paris, 2 October 2006 (present author’s translation).

  32. Comité interministériel pour le développement durable, Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable—Les objectifs, 3 June 2003, p. 8 (present author’s translation).

  33. See Éco-consommateur tous les jours. In ADEME, Devenir éco-consommateur, acheter et consommer mieux. Les actes d’achat, March, 2004.

  34. To use the expression coined by Klaus Toepfer, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). See UNEP News Release NR99-90, 23 August 1999. This same reasoning is used and developed by Bas de Leeuw (Head, Strategy Unit, Production and Consumption Branch, United Nations Environment Program) in de Leeuw (2005).

  35. Present author’s translation.

  36. This also means that the implicit assumptions of rationality may be practically annihilated by latent cognitive biases. See Beretti et al. (2009).

  37. As demonstrated by Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier, who identified three ideal-typical patterns: routine, selection, and deliberation. See Dubuisson-Quellier (2006).

  38. They have also been published for other aspects of consumption (health, safety, etc.). Leaflets and informational brochures for consumers have also been designed by professional organizations and refrigerator manufacturers to specify the conditions in which to use the refrigerator, notably in order to limit the risks of microbe development. See Derens (2001).

  39. The series of examples given by Nick Clarke, Clive Barnett, Paul Cloke, and Alice Malpass prove that this phenomenon also exists in the United Kingdom (Clarke et al. 2007, pp. 237–238).

  40. Devenir éco-consommateur. Acheter et consommer mieux, ADEME, October 2002.

  41. Mes éco-gestes au quotidien, Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, June 2004, p. 14

  42. Le P’tit Ecolo et ses mille et un gestes de l’été, Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, July, 2004.

  43. Under the heading “Espace Particuliers” of the site of the ADEME, on the page entitled “Agir,” http://www2.ademe.fr/servlet/KBaseShow?sort=−1&cid=96&m=3&catid=14290, accessed on January 20th, 2007 (present author’s translation).

  44. For a more general view of the potential role of the Internet in redirecting consumption modes, see Reisch (2001).

  45. See, for example, “Quand le consommateur a rendez-vous avec la Terre” and “Adoptez l’écoattitude!”, Marianne, n°519, March 31 to April 6, 2007.

  46. As explained by (Clarke et al. 2007, p. 237).

  47. For a detailed explanation and an analytical perspective of the foundations on which ecological labelling is based, see Boström and Klintman (2008).

  48. Interministerial committee for sustainable development, Stratégie Nationale de Développement Durable—Les objectifs, 3 June 2003, p. 8 (present author’s translation).

  49. Comité interministériel pour le développement durable, Stratégie nationale de développement durable: programmes d’actions, 3 June 2003, p. 29.

  50. Factsheet “Intégrer le développement durable dans les modes de production et de consommation,” in Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Stratégie nationale de développement durable, September, 2005 (present author’s translation).

  51. Result of the merger in 2004 of the Association française pour l’assurance qualité (AFAQ) and the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR).

  52. ADEME, Devenir éco-consommateur, acheter et consommer mieux. Les actes d’achat, March, 2004, p. 7 (present author’s translation).

  53. This is made possible because the equipment and the technology used also contribute to a distributed cognition. For further information about this idea, see for example Conein (2004).

  54. Cédric Planchat (Director of Economic Research and Environmental Assessment, Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development), “Protéger l’environnement: un objectif pour une grande majorité de Français,” Insee Première, n° 1121, January, 2007 (present author’s translation).

  55. For a more complete explanation about a relatively recent field of investigation, see Gifford (2007).

  56. See Clarke et al. (2007), especially p. 238–239.

  57. The Crédoc (Centre de Recherche pour l’Etude et l’Observation des Conditions de Vie) is part of a group of organizations, closely linked to the administration, that carry out this type of research. See, for example, Croutte et al. (2006) and, for a condensed version, Delpal and Hatchuel (2007).

  58. From this point of view, the strategy is not necessarily different from those which have developed in the field of marketing. For elements of comparison, see Miller and Rose (1997). For an explanation that is closer to a reflexive exercise on this type of work, see also Heiskanen (2005).

  59. In fact, his vision targets more the “Third Way” defended in the United Kingdom by the New Labour party of Tony Blair.

  60. Ibid., p. 1399.

  61. “Shopping for a better world,” UNEP News Release, Brussels/Paris/Nairobi, 2 June 2003.

  62. Ibid.

  63. Ibid.

  64. Ibid. The project began with an informal meeting in Paris where ten organizations with an interest in the distribution sector were represented. (Ahold Corporate Communications, British Retail Consortium, Carrefour, Co-op, EuroCommerce, Ito Yokado, Kesko, Monoprix, Pinault Printemps-Redoute, Safeway).

  65. The density may be less in rural areas, but it is also present.

  66. For example Adelphe/Ademe/Éco-Emballages, Implantation des points d’apport volontaire de déchets ménagers. Recueil de recommandations, Paris, ADEME, Décembre 1995, 60 p.

  67. This supposes that a consumer has the ability to see the difference between pretentions that are serious and those that are not. See Cliath (2007).

  68. Research by Elizabeth Shove and Dale Southerton has highlighted the effect of this driving force. See Shove and Southerton (2000).

  69. See Southerton et al. (2005), p. 41. As summarized by the authors, who take the example of showering habits: “Conceptualizing consumption as socially constrained, normatively governed, susceptible to routinization and the outcome of integrative practices, questions the value of using a model of the consumer built upon autonomous and individual choices. The implications for the sustainability agenda are profound, suggesting that the task of shifting patterns of consumption towards an eco-friendly norm is far more complex than notions of information provision, lifestyle conversion, market regulation or technological fixing (taken on their own) imply” (ibid., p. 41).

  70. The idea of “management of demand” is left in quotation marks, given the intensity of this terminology and the many debates it continues to provoke. In these terms, the phenomenon is analyzed as a key element in a fundamental economic mutation by the American economist John Kenneth Galbraith, notably in Galbraith (1967).

  71. This has effects that seem to be empirically identifiable, especially from an environmental point of view. See Brulle and Young (2007).

  72. The actors in the marketing industry know from experience that these “needs” are not natural and they can be worked on to be transformed into a commercial market to be exploited, as Jean Baudrillard has already attempted to show by analyzing “the system of needs and of consumption as a system of productive forces” (See “The Ideological Genesis of Needs,” in Baudrillard 1981).

  73. On this point and for a larger perspective, see Stearns (2006).

  74. See “The ‘Iron Cage’ of Consumerism,” in Jackson (2009), p. 87. On the ambiguities in the evolution of individual values, see also Gatersleben et al. (2010).

  75. Doris A. Fuchs and Sylvia Lorek observed that the actors of the business world disregarded this question during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. See Fuchs and Lorek (2005), p. 273–274.

  76. “Challenges for Sustainable Consumption Policy,” in Jackson (2006), p. 120.

  77. When consumption is considered to be potentially political, this critical component proves to be principally defended by militant groups whose radical position remains the minority in discussions on this subject. See Moisander and Pesonen (2002).

  78. For further information about the “libidinal economy” specific to “hyperindustrial capitalism,” see Stiegler (2004).

  79. For more information about the issue of the increase in ethical and political justifications for certain purchasing behaviors, see, for example, Stolle and Hooghe (2003), pp. 265–288; Stolle et al. (2005).

  80. This theme sparked a large number of publications, of which certain books have become almost classics, that have been able to serve as sources of inspiration and critical support for more politically committed positions: for example, Baudrillard (1998) and Marcuse (1964). The latter distinguishes between “true” from “false needs.” For a recent publication about this theme, see, for example, Lodziak (1995). An article by Thierry Paquot attempts to give a panoramic view of this critical line of thought: Paquot (2008).

  81. Studies done with group interviews in the United Kingdom have demonstrated this type of reaction. See Malpass et al. (2007).

  82. Ibid.

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  1. Equipe de Recherche sur les Mutations de l’Europe et de ses Sociétés (ERMES), Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Avenue Doyen Louis Trotabas, 06050, NICE Cedex 01, France

    Yannick Rumpala

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Rumpala, Y. “Sustainable consumption” as a new phase in a governmentalization of consumption. Theor Soc 40, 669–699 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-011-9153-5

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