CFP - SCORAI 2020 Session - Ethical Consumerism And Its Discontents - Boston, MA - June 10-12, 2020

[Jones, Ellis]

Dear Colleagues,

At SCORAI 2020 in Boston, I am hosting a panel on “Ethical Consumerism And Its Discontents".
 
This session will focus on how we can make sense of ethical consumerism in its present form(s).

• Is it essentially greenwashing disguised as consumer empowerment narratives being promoted by corporate public relations departments in an attempt to distract and misdirect citizen-consumers from pursuing important structural change through political activism?

• Is it a powerful tool in the citizen-consumer toolbox that allows for both symbolic and actual collective political/cultural change to be fueled by powerful consumer-driven dollars if we can successfully decipher where these economic leverage points may be most effectively exploited?

• Is it a significantly flawed social change strategy filled with nearly impossible challenges for the average person trying largely in vain to tell the difference between legitimate efforts at socially and environmentally responsible business practices and well-funded advertising campaigns?

Regardless of the answer, ethical consumerism is growing in popularity and we as scholars of consumption need to make sense of it for a public that is struggling to understand its import.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• critiques of ethical consumerism and/or corporate sustainability
• defenses of ethical consumerism and/or corporate sustainability
• alternatives to ethical consumerism and/or corporate sustainability
• comparison of different types of ethical consumerism
• cross national comparisons of ethical consumerism
• ethical consumer and/or CSR rating systems
• connecting/dissecting CSR and ethical consumerism

Abstracts should not exceed 500 words, and must be submitted in English by January 5th, 2020 through the SCORAI conference website (https://cssh.northeastern.edu/scorai2020/). For more information or answers to specific questions, please use the following email: ejo...@holycross.edu. Please be sure to include your name, institution, and the name of the conference session that you are applying for.

Deadline for Abstracts: January 5th, 2020
 
Please circulate in your networks.

All the best,

Ellis Jones

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Ellis Jones, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Beaven 219

Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Holy Cross College
1 College Street
Worcester MA 01610
530-902-7347

508-793-3478
ejo...@holycross.edu
https://holycross.academia.edu/EllisJones
www.betterworldshopper.org