Re-imagining the utopian: Transformation into a sustainable lifestyle in ecovillages

Soonkwan Hong and Handan Vicdan
Additional contact information
Soonkwan Hong: EM - EMLyon Business School

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This research elucidates the transformative nature of sustainable lifestyles in ecovillages as ostensibly utopian spaces. Using archival data from several ecovillages, in-depth interviews with ecovillage residents, and participatory observations made at the EcoVillage at Ithaca (EVI), New York, and Imeceevi, Turkey, the article explains the processes by which utopian ideals are re-imagined and re-configured based on the social configuration of the sustainable lifestyle. The findings suggest that consumers organize alternative life modes in their quest to explore and internalize environmentally sustainable lifestyles in multi-faceted ideological fields. The study documents the transformation of ecovillages from intentional to incidentally utopian communities where residents equally prioritize and contest relational sustainability. Drawing on these findings, the article also presents public policy implications on new educational programs and sharing economy.

Keywords: Sustainability; Ecovillage; Utopia; Escapism; Heterotopia; Sharing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-01-01
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Journal of Business Research, 2016, 69 (1), pp.120-136 P

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02313297

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().