 The path to a sustainable economy: sustainable consumption, social identity and ecological citizenshipQuentin Duroy International Journal of Green Economics, 2011, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-14 Abstract: Green economists have argued for years about the need to develop sustainable economies. Given the central focus on consumption activity in post-industrial economies, a change in attitude towards 'sustainable consumption' will be needed in order for societies to engage on a sustainability path. Among three approaches to sustainable consumption, it is argued here that only the ecological citizenship approach is truly compatible with sustainability; however, it is also the approach that requires the most profound socio-cultural changes. Based on a critical realist notion of a relational society, this paper contends that significant changes may be needed to socio-cultural structures that currently legitimise consumption growth as an engine of progress. Because the goal of a sustainable economy is to improve and maintain human well-being, policies and institutions seeking to foster pro-sustainable behaviour, such as an ecological citizenship curriculum in education, may be necessary to avoid future environmental, economic and cultural crises. Keywords: sustainability; ecological citizenship; critical realism; sustainable economy; sustainable consumption; social identity; sustainable development; green economics. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijgrec:v:5:y:2011:i:1:p:1-14 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Green Economics from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
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