The Role of Ethical Consumption in Promoting Democratic Sustainability

Pascal Stiefenhofer ()
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Pascal Stiefenhofer: Newcastle University, Economics

Chapter Chapter 5 in Conscious Consumption, 2026, pp 271-305 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter reconstructs the normative foundations of economic agency by moving beyond utility-based models toward a pluralist framework of democratic sustainability. It begins by situating ethical consumption within critiques of neoclassical rationality and explores alternative moral theories, including Kantian duty, Rawlsian justice, and pluralist critiques of consequentialism. Building on this foundation, the chapter introduces a formal model of moral economies using topological structures—ethical fiber bundles, homotopy, and boundary conditions—to capture the dynamics of moral evolution, imperfect duties, and institutional constraints. Historical and empirical dimensions are addressed through case studies such as the free-grown sugar movement, alongside challenges of ethical fatigue and market capture. The discussion then advances a theory of democratic sustainability, conceptualized as topological coherence, where consumers function as moral agents generating curvature in economic systems. Emphasis is placed on the co-evolution of values, institutions, and economic behavior, highlighting ethical consumption as a form of public reason and democratic moral infrastructure. The chapter concludes by reconciling ideal theory with political-economic complexity and outlining future directions that integrate behavioral realism, political economy, and mathematical expansion. In doing so, it positions moral modeling not merely as abstract theory but as a democratic inquiry into the ethical architecture of markets.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-22336-4_5

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-22336-4_5

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