Ethical consumer groups: coordinating individual and organisational sustainable consumption

The idea and practice of ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ consumption is gaining traction, increasingly seen as not only an example of consumers acting individually but as collective action and a social movement in its own right. Its focus is inherently cross-movement, aiming at environmental, social and developmental goals: we are all consumers, so ethical consumption movements can – at least in theory – affect everyone. These movements also involve different actors, crossing the public-private divide and suggesting new forms of political action and cooperation. This research will examine the way in which ethical consumption groups coordinate action by different groups. What is these groups’ role in mobilising different levels of actors, and what strategies do they use? We examine two ethical consumption groups in Belgium and the UK which both influence and reflect the shifting boundaries of the environmental movement. Through document analysis and original interviews we find that groups are key to coordinating and framing ethical consumption by individuals and authorities, providing technical and legitimising information to link aspects of the environmental movement to consumption. Greater insight into the strategies used by ethical consumption groups has value both for researchers of new forms of social movements and political action, as well as for authorities and companies, who can no longer ignore the effects of such movements.status: publishe