Care, Gender, and Change in the Study of Sustainable Consumption: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

In Western countries, moving toward more sustainable lifestyles often involves the disruption of well-established routines and habits in relation to consumption domains such as food, washing and cleaning, heating and cooling, transportation, and managing “stuff” more generally. These activities are deeply embedded in our everyday lives and often tied to care, which is the work invested in maintaining the well-being of oneself and others. In this paper, we are interested in the ways sustainable consumption and care interlock within the household, how they relate to gender inequalities, and how change toward more sustainable lifestyles can both impact and be impacted by these inequalities. With this in mind, we conducted a critical review of the academic literature by analyzing a corpus of 75 papers on household consumption and sustainability, paying particular attention to the role authors attribute to care and gender. The analysis shines light on the relational character of care and consumption, emphasizing the ways sustainable consumption is dependent on relationships within and outside the home. We suggest that care often acts as a barrier to the establishment of more sustainable consumption practice. Care work, per definition, upholds routines and habits while mobilizing the very resources that are needed to transform them. This insight invites us to rethink the role of households as a site for change. We suggest that the transition toward more sustainable consumption practices within the home relies on reducing and redistributing care work, transforming the world of work, and actively promoting an ethos of care that includes people, other beings, the material world and the planet.

Sustainable consumption, resonance, and care

“…We suggest that this life-sustaining web can be understood as resonating relationships. This aligns well with what Godin and Langlois (2022) propose: Relationships are central in a way that such an understanding of care can convey sustainable consumption in two ways: first, but not only, with regard to the marketplace and economic relations and, second, with relations in social reproduction. Building on these ideas, we consider that the concept of resonance can help in understanding the relational dimensions of care.…”

“…Accordingly, our research question asks: how can the concept of resonance assist in explaining the relevance of care for more sustainable consumption? We add to the literature on sustainable consumption and care (see Shaw et al, 2017;Godin and Langlois, 2022) by emphasizing caring relationships people have with the world. Consequently, resonance assists in shedding novel light on care for more sustainable consumption.…”

“…Care also involves caring for the environment, caring with and for other people, and caring about the economy. All of these caring relationships have lots to do with sustainable consumption: Godin and Langlois (2022) describe care as the maintenance of wellbeing of the self and others (human and non-human) emphasizing three key characteristics of care-vulnerability, interdependency, and responsibility. Some consumers are more vulnerable than others.…”

Consumer analysis and the role of information in sustainable choices: A natural experiment

“…However, even though socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics are useful in understanding human behavior, they offer only a partial explanation about the nudging factors that can be introduced to foster the "green stimulus." In addition, habits play a pivotal role in shaping individual choices as routines strongly affect consumers consumption patterns (Gram-Hanssen, 2007;Godin and Langlois, 2021).…”

The cultural practice of decluttering as household work and its potentials for sustainable consumption

“…In addition to regular care activities through consumption (e.g., cooking, laundry etc. ), there are numerous consumption practices that express caring also on a symbolic level (such as cooking soup for the sick, ironing a shirt for a spouse's important appointment, leaving lights on for family members coming home late) (Godin and Langlois, 2021). In the context of care and sustainable consumption, gender inequalities always become apparent.…”