Premium
Green capital and social reproduction within families practising voluntary simplicity in the US
Author(s) -
Walther Carol S.,
Sandlin Jennifer A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of consumer studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.775
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1470-6431
pISSN - 1470-6423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2011.01050.x
Subject(s) - frugality , simplicity , mainstream , reproduction , consumption (sociology) , social reproduction , middle class , social capital , social class , sociology , capital (architecture) , voluntary association , class (philosophy) , public relations , political science , social science , law , geography , epistemology , ecology , philosophy , archaeology , biology
In this paper, we examine how parents in the US who practise voluntary simplicity enact family and social reproduction. Two key findings emerged. First, adult simplifiers in our study typically grew up within families that practised voluntary simplicity or frugality and transmit these consumption patterns to their own children. Second, simplifiers often struggle with other family members, friends and society over issues related to the tensions that emerge as they seek to simplify their lives while at the same time raising children who will not be ‘shunned’ by a mainstream, consumption‐focused society. We conclude that parents who voluntarily simplify are able to maintain their social class status through redefining what it means to be middle class through the creation and utilization of ‘green capital’.