Ethics & Social Sustainability

Why I Thrift (and How I Got Started) by Grace Yia-Hei Kao

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Last weekend, I went to a store and came home with one cotton sundress, four lightweight sweaters, two pairs of pants,... more Last weekend, I went to a store and came home with one cotton sundress, four lightweight sweaters, two pairs of pants, one beaded necklace, and three khakis for my preschooler. I paid $26.31 for the entire haul. That feat was only possible because I bought all of those items second-hand at a thrift store. 

While I have always been a value-conscious shopper, for the majority of my life “scoring a bargain” almost always meant buying something new on sale at a deep discount. I only started buying used clothes a few years ago after my firstborn son moved up into the toddler room at his daycare. In short, the more artwork he did at school, the more consistently he came home with paint splattered all over his hair, body, and clothes. Though his teachers always told us that it was “just” finger paint and that it would wash out, his clothes would almost invariably remain stained (whether or not I pretreated the stains, or vigorously attempted to scrub them out by hand before and/or after the wash).

That permanently-ruined-though-barely-worn clothes routine quickly drove me bonkers. Worst still was my growing realization that even if I had been successful in removing the stains, my rapidly growing son would soon outgrow his clothes anyway. When I shared these frustrations with my “working moms” support group at Virginia Tech, it was then when I learned of this amazing store featuring gently used children’s clothes and toys that I hadn’t realized even existed–Once Upon a Child.

Value-Driven Business: Social Return on Investment

by Keli Rae

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The focus of this discussion is to examine the general business patterns associated with social entrepreneurial (SE)... more The focus of this discussion is to examine the general business patterns associated with social entrepreneurial (SE) practice.  Social enterprises inherently build their infrastructure with social and environmental impacts in mind (Dees 2007), so it follows that double and triple bottom line reporting are suitable practices for them to implement for measuring these impacts.  Socially and environmentally driven (double/triple bottom line)  reporting is currently permeating the business world. Not only do large corporations have to update their social and environmental objectives and practices to adhere to stricter stakeholder standards, but triple bottom line (TBL) reporting is emerging as a screening tool used by investors to review potential social entrepreneurial, nonprofit and commercial clients (Epstein 2008; Estey 2009).

The Moral and the Material

by Andrew Irvine

Published in 'Faith and Freedom' vol. 52, pt. 1 (1999), 51-58.

Transforming citizens? Green politics and ethical consumption on lifestyle television

by Tania Lewis

This is an electronic version of an article published in Continuum: Journal of Media &Cultural Studies (special issue on environmental sustainability) 2008, 22(2): 227-240.
The final version of the paper is available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10304310701864394#preview

The ethical Dilemma of lifestyle change: designing for sustainable schools and sustainable citizenship

by Andrea Wheeler

Children's Participation in Educational Projects and Sustainable Design Comparing the UK and Nicaraguan Contexts: An Interview with Harry Shier, 17th …

by Andrea Wheeler

D.B. Tindall, Howard Harshaw, and J.M. Taylor. 2011. “The Effects of Social Network Ties on the Public's Satisfaction with Forest Management in British Columbia, Canada.” Pp. 147-179 in Örjan Bodin and Christina Prell (editors), Social Networks and Natural Resource Management: Uncovering the Social Fabric of Environmental Governance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

by David Tindall

The objective of this chapter is to examine the effects of personal network ties on people’s satisfaction with forest... more The objective of this chapter is to examine the effects of personal network ties on people’s satisfaction with forest management.  More specifically, it will examine whether having ties to environmentalists, and to forestry professionals is associated with one’s level of satisfaction with forest management. Our findings demonstrate that there are effects for weak ties and strong ties to environmentalists on the public’s satisfaction with forest management.  However, there were no corresponding statistically significant effects for ties to forestry professionals.  This suggests that regarding the subject of satisfaction with forestry, environmentalists are more influential than foresters are.

Amartya Sen: well-being, benessere economico e vita umana.

by Marta Clemente

What Do Kids’ Birthday Parties Actually Celebrate? Alternatives for Raising the Next Generation by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee

by Feminism and Religion

originally published on the Feminism and Religion Project

I love birthdays. Maybe it’s partly because I’m a twin, so my parents always wanted to make sure that each of us felt... more I love birthdays. Maybe it’s partly because I’m a twin, so my parents always wanted to make sure that each of us felt adequately celebrated. For whatever reason, they’ve always been a big deal – your special day in the whole year, where you get to choose what’s for dinner and everyone is extra nice to you. So of course I’ve had even more fun now that I have kids of my own to celebrate. I love making crazy cakes and experimenting with fun party themes; and bring on the singing!  In our family, the traditional one verse birthday song was nowhere near celebratory enough – we added to it until it felt sufficiently festive, so ours goes on for a good five minutes.

But I’ll never forget my oldest daughter’s fifth birthday, the first we celebrated after moving out of the People’s Republic of Cambridge,Massachusetts and up to the suburban North Shore. The evening after the party, we looked around; instead of the educational, wooden Melissa and Doug puzzles and toys of the past, this year we were somehow surrounded by a mountain of pink princess plastic in varying shapes and forms. My husband and I took one look and said, “never again.” Our new tradition of charity birthday parties was born.

Two Different Scales of Bioclimatic Design: 1 City-1 House (greek version)

by Sofia Tsagkera

«Ένα σπίτι ή μία πόλη είναι ένα οικοσύστημα το οποίο παρέχει ένα βασικό τοπικό βιότοπο για τους ανθρώπους,... more «Ένα σπίτι ή μία πόλη είναι ένα οικοσύστημα το οποίο παρέχει ένα βασικό τοπικό βιότοπο για τους ανθρώπους, δημιουργώντας το δικό του μικροκλίμα, ενώ θα πρέπει να τους παρέχει, όσο το δυνατόν περισσότερο, άνεση και τροφή… Σε
κάθε επίπεδο, ο σχεδιαστής ή όποιος παίρνει αποφάσεις
θα πρέπει να προσπαθεί να μεγιστοποιεί το ποσοστό της
αυτονομίας του οικοσυστήματος, ενώ ταυτόχρονα, θα βελτιώνει τις ποιότητες που ενισχύουν τη ζωή».
(Barton et al, 1995)

Η παρακάτω ερευνητική εργασία εκπονήθηκε με σκοπό να
παρουσιάσει δύο εκφάνσεις της αειφορίας σε διαφορετικές
κλίμακες. Από τη μία μεριά, είναι οι αποφάσεις που πρέπει
να ληφθούν κατά το σχεδιασμό ενός αστικού κέντρου και,
από την άλλη, οι αρχιτεκτονικοί χειρισμοί που πρέπει να γίνουν κατά το σχεδιασμό μιας κατοικίας.

Consumers Emotional Reactions after Brand Crises: The Role of Corporate Associations

by Ioannis Assiouras

Paper presented in Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC), Perth, Australia, 28 – 30 November 2011

The objective of the present research is to uncover the potentially broader scope of Corporate Ability (CA), Corporate... more The objective of the present research is to uncover the potentially broader scope of Corporate Ability (CA), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), product positioning (performance vs. ethical) and crisis response strategies in consumer behaviour, after brand crises and to map their impact on consumer emotional reactions. For the purposes of this paper, an experimental research was conducted with a sample of 1440 consumers. The results demonstrate that CA and particularly CSR play an important role in decreasing the negative emotional reactions after brand crises; while at the same time they hold the sympathy level and forgiveness willingness towards the company at not so low levels. Finally, the results indicate that the crisis response strategy of apology is not a panacea and managers should take into consideration less accommodative response strategies as well.

The Emergence of a Standards Market: Multiplicity of Sustainability Standards in the Global Coffee Industry

by Stephan Manning

Full Source: Reinecke, J.; Manning, S.; Von Hagen, O. 2012. "The Emergence of a Standards Market: Multiplicity of Sustainability Standards in the Global Coffee Industry", Organization Studies, Forthcoming.

The growing number of voluntary standards for governing transnational arenas is presenting standards organizations... more The growing number of voluntary standards for governing transnational arenas is presenting standards organizations with a problem. While claiming that they are pursuing shared, overarching objectives, at the same time, they are promoting their own respective standards that are increasingly similar. By developing the notion of ‘standards markets,’ this paper examines this tension and studies how different social movement and industry-driven standards organizations compete as well as collaborate over governance in transnational arenas. Based on an in-depth case study of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry, we find that the ongoing co-existence of multiple standards is being promoted by the interplay between two countervailing mechanisms: convergence and differentiation. In conjunction, these mechanisms are enabling the emergence and persistence of a market for standards through what we describe as meta-standardization of sustainable practices. Meta-standardization leads to convergence at the ‘rules of the game’ level, but allows also differentiation at the attributes level, which is enabling parties to create and maintain their own standards. Our study helps to advance the understanding of transnational governance by explaining the dynamics of competing and collaborating non-state actors in constituting a standards market.

Creatures in Captivity and Ethics

by Poppy Valentine

Prisons. Factory States. Low-Wage Workers. Child Sex Trade. Animal Abuse for: Clothing, Entertainment and Food. I... more Prisons. Factory States. Low-Wage Workers. Child Sex Trade. Animal Abuse for: Clothing, Entertainment and Food. I really could go on with other outlets of injust captivity, but this covers some major ones.

Damian F.White Bookchin - A Critical Appraisal Pluto Press 2008 (Introduction)

by Damian White

Introduction to my book on Bookchin. Introduction to my book on Bookchin.

Hierarchy Domination Nature Critical Theory Social Ecology and Historical Inquiry

by Damian White

Historical social theory, nature and the domination of nature debate - Bookchin, the production of space/nature (Smith/Lefebvre) and beyond...bits on stones and bones and the early environmental histories of early humans....issues I am still very interested in......The paper posits a natural affinity between Neil Smith's production of nature thesis and much of empirical work emerged in archeology and anthropology on early humans and their environment....It would seem to me that we have been involved in the production of nature much longer than is commonly recognized (it didn't just start with capitalism/modernity) and this has real implications for how we think critical theory & critical ecological theory.

D White, Alan Rudy, C.Wilbert Anti Environmentalism -Promethians, Contrarians and Beyond 21st August 2005.doc

by Damian White

A review/summary/appraisal of the thinking of anti-environmental/ecoskeptic/contrarian currents.

A Political Sociology of Socionatures

by Damian White

Getting stuck into the grow or die/treadmill of production/ecological modernization, political ecology/new ecology/skepticism debate around political economy. Wrote this five years ago and I'm still amazed by how little US environmental sociology and political ecology engage with each other. It's almost as if they live in different worlds.....

Post Industrial Possibilities and Urban Social Ecologies

by Damian White

Thinking about the legacy of Murray Bookchin after his death for environmental social theory and politics. Yes, he could be a big pain in the ass. However, his focus on urban ecology, post Malthusian social ecological politics, post scarcity focus, ecological humanism and attempt to initiate a discussion about the need for a 'green industrial revolution' was seminal and still unacknowledged and much of his broad aspirations were proposing an much more interesting agenda than anything being proposed in much environmental sociology, cultural geography or political science.

Technonatures Introduction White Wilbert

by Damian White

An attempt to survey and think through the political implications of hybridity discourses such as Latour and Haraway for environmental politics. This is the introductory chapter from D.White and C.Wilbert (Eds) Technonatures: Environments, Technologies, Spaces, and Places in the Twenty-first CenturyISBN13: 978-1-55458-150-4, 2009.

Lots of other really interesting cuts in the book from Erik Swyngedouw, Sarah Whatmore, Mike Michael, Steve Hinchliffe and others ...check it out at Available from http://www.wlu.ca/press/Catalog/white-wilbert.shtml

Corporate Sustainability Survey 2011

by Dhiman Chowdhury

Sustainability paradox has become a debate of our time; adding to this predicament is sometimes the questionable... more Sustainability paradox has become a debate of our time; adding to this predicament is sometimes the questionable behaviors of the corporations. This detrimental demeanor is counterproductive, as it for the entity so do for our common goods. The issue of sustainability is a dilemma of our which many scholars pondered over last decades, yet despite their efforts, the message is somewhat convoluted through a plethora of conflicting strategies, definitions, mandates and regulatory measures. The obfuscation has created deviation in the discourse of “sustainability” measures without addressing systemic discord with sustainability challenges at organizational and societal level, and societal and ecological level. This survey examines presence and absence of a particular behavioral dimension in global corporations and corollary effect of it. In addition, this global survey unveils previously unknown data depicting correlation between certain behavioral dimension at workplace and other corporate level factors including profitability, innovation and market leadership. This global survey serves as the basis for further research to find a common ground that brings institutional integration to sustainability conjectures.