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The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Dauvergne

    (University of British Columbia)

Abstract

The Shadows of Consumption gives a hard-hitting diagnosis: many of the earth's ecosystems and billions of its people are at risk from the consequences of rising consumption. Products ranging from cars to hamburgers offer conveniences and pleasures; but, as Peter Dauvergne makes clear, global political and economic processes displace the real costs of consumer goods into distant ecosystems, communities, and timelines, tipping into crisis people and places without the power to resist. In The Shadows of Consumption, Peter Dauvergne maps the costs of consumption that remain hidden in the shadows cast by globalized corporations, trade, and finance. He traces the environmental consequences of five commodities: automobiles, gasoline, refrigerators, beef, and harp seals. In these fascinating histories we learn, for example, that American officials ignored warnings about the dangers of lead in gasoline in the 1920s; why China is now a leading producer of CFC-free refrigerators; and how activists were able to stop Canada's commercial seal hunt in the 1980s (but are unable to do so now). Dauvergne's innovative analysis allows us to see why so many efforts to manage the global environment are failing even as environmentalism is slowly strengthening. He proposes a guiding principle of "balanced consumption" for both consumers and corporations. We know that we can make things better by driving a fuel-efficient car, eating locally grown food, and buying energy-efficient appliances; but these improvements are incremental, local, and insufficient. More crucial than our individual efforts to reuse and recycle will be reforms in the global political economy to reduce the inequalities of consumption and correct the imbalance between growing economies and environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Dauvergne, 2008. "The Shadows of Consumption: Consequences for the Global Environment," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262042460, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:mtp:titles:0262042460
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sam Bliss, 2019. "The Case for Studying Non-Market Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-30, June.
    2. Peter Dauvergne & Genevieve LeBaron, 2013. "The Social Cost of Environmental Solutions," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 410-430, June.
    3. Gabriela Michalek & Reimund Schwarze, 2015. "Carbon leakage: pollution, trade or politics?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1471-1492, December.
    4. Tomas Ariztia & Dorothea Kleine & Roberto Bartholo & Graca Brightwell & Nurjk Agloni & Rita Afonso, 2016. "Beyond the “deficit discourse†: Mapping ethical consumption discourses in Chile and Brazil," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(5), pages 891-909, May.
    5. Kristie O’Neill, 2018. "Traditional beneficiaries: trade bans, exemptions, and morality embodied in diets," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(2), pages 515-527, June.
    6. Rui Pedro Fonseca & Ruben Sanchez-Sabate, 2022. "Consumers’ Attitudes towards Animal Suffering: A Systematic Review on Awareness, Willingness and Dietary Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, December.
    7. Mohammad Sirajul Islam & Mohammad Shamsuddoha, 2023. "Assessing Sustainability Governance and Its Dimensions," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 158-175, June.
    8. Kissinger, Meidad, 2012. "International trade related food miles – The case of Canada," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 171-178.
    9. Kathryn Harrison, 2015. "International Carbon Trade and Domestic Climate Politics," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 27-48, August.
    10. Karlsson, Rasmus, 2014. "Theorizing sustainability in a post-Concorde world," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-9.
    11. Robert M. Chiles & Amy J. Fitzgerald, 2018. "Why is meat so important in Western history and culture? A genealogical critique of biophysical and political-economic explanations," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 1-17, March.
    12. Kate J. Neville, 2020. "Shadows of Divestment: The Complications of Diverting Fossil Fuel Finance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 3-11, May.
    13. Eve Fraser & Hamish van der Ven, 2022. "Increasing Transparency in Global Supply Chains: The Case of the Fast Fashion Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    14. Campbell-Verduyn Malcolm, 2016. "Merely TINCering around: the shifting private authority of technology, information and news corporations," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 143-170, August.
    15. Graham Harrison, 2011. "Poverty reduction and the chronically rich," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(127), pages 1-6, March.
    16. Paul G. Harris & Taedong Lee, 2017. "Compliance with climate change agreements: the constraints of consumption," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 779-794, December.
    17. Peter Dauvergne & Jennifer Clapp, 2016. "Researching Global Environmental Politics in the 21st Century," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, February.
    18. Arto O. Salonen & Jani Siirilä & Mikko Valtonen, 2018. "Sustainable Living in Finland: Combating Climate Change in Everyday Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    global environment; environmental sustainability; commodities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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