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Critical consumerism


Critical consumption is the conscious choice of buying or not buying a specific product according to ethical and political beliefs. The critical consumer recognizes the importance of considering some characteristics of the product and its realization, such as environmental sustainability and respect of workers’ rights. Indeed, critical consumers take full responsibility for the environmental, social and political effects of their choices. The critical consumer can sympathize with certain social movement goals and contributes towards them through modifying their consumption behavior.

Work on critical consumption has differed in the terms used to refer to boycotting and buycotting actions. The more prominent include ethical consumption and political consumerism, while sustainable consumption, more linked with policy, has also increased in usage.

Often consumer and citizen are considered as different because consumers only show self-interest, whereas citizens denote expanded self-interest. The general idea is that, consumers ‘buy what they want—or what they have been persuaded to want—within the limits of what they can get.Citizenship, on the other hand, carries duties or responsibilities along with various rights. Since consumers are seen also as citizens they have to behave in a community-oriented, moral and political way, rather than as a self-interested one.

A specificity of critical consumption is the political use of consumption, which is the consumers’ choice of “producers and products with the aim of changing ethically or politically objectionable institutional or market practices”. Their choices depend on different factors as non economic issues that concern personal and family well-being, issue of fairness, justice, ethical or political assessment. Main forms and tools of political use of consumption are boycotting, "buycotting" (anti-boycotting) and also culture jamming or adbusting.

Political consumerism can be considered as an alternative form of political engagement, especially for young generations. In addition, market-based political strategies of young citizens go beyond boycotting and “buycotting”; they also started to participate in internet campaigns becoming active consumers. Their individual choices become political movements able to challenge political and economic powers. Therefore, as a political actor, the consumer “is seen as directly responsible not only for him or herself but also for the world”. The phenomenon of political consumerism takes into account social transformations like globalization, the ever-increasing role of the market and individualization.


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