Globalizing Responsibility: The Political Rationalities of Ethical Consumption

Interest in the ethics and politics of consumption is rising steadily. But many questions still remain about the complex motivations and practices involved in being an 'ethical consumer'. Globalizing Responsibility presents an innovative reinterpretation of the forces that have shaped the remarkable growth of ethical consumption.

The book challenges the claim that this phenomenon reflects an increase in individualism and a retreat from proper politics. Using detailed qualitative empirical cases of ethical consumption campaigns, the book investigates the practical strategies used to encourage various ethical consumption activities by ordinary people. First, it looks at the way in which discourses of responsibility and repertoires of consumerism are deployed by activists to enroll support for global campaigns around fair trade, environmental issues and human rights. And then it looks at how ordinary people engage critically as citizens, not just as consumers. These two interwoven strands reveal the pragmatic dynamics of ethical action in consumption processes and point to important new directions for understanding the contemporary politicization of consumption.

Globalizing Responsibility: The Political Rationalities of Ethical Consumption represents a valuable new contribution to our critical understanding of the politics and ethics of consumption, and to the wider political and academic debates on citizenship, participation and subjectivity.