Research has highlighted the role played by meanings, material structures and skills in the performance of consumption practices ( Shove and Pantzar, 2005). Practice theory is the field of research most concerned with the analysis of the collective embeddedness of consumption practices ( Warde, 2005). Consumption practices are embedded in collective frameworks and permeate our lifestyles, not only giving rhythm to our daily lives but also structuring our social moments ( Boström, 2020). This vision of consumption as the result of individual choices has been widely criticised by social science scholars who have shown that it is far removed from the reality of consumption practices, which are rather driven by collective dynamics ( Shove, 2010). This centrality of consumption is also found among climate change deniers and opponents of environmentalist discourses, as they often defend a way of life ( Lamb et al, 2020). For their part, governments in many countries have implemented sustainable consumption policies to guide consumers towards behaviours that reduce greenhouse gas emissions ( Welch and Southerton, 2019). Numerous international reports, non-governmental organisations (NGO) advocates and media articles highlight the need for consumers to change their consumption behaviour to achieve sustainable development. In the context of the calls for sufficiency held by climate experts, consumption is a major lever of ecological transition. Keywords: abundance consumption disposition ecological transition market power technologies sufficiency valuation The government of consumption is based on technologies of power that shape and orient consumers’ conduct, leading them to adopt the norms of affluent consumption by activating and playing on their dispositions acquired through market socialisation. However, it is not imposed on individuals by force. Affluent consumption, which is highly resource intensive, is structural in both economic policies of governments and business models of companies and is therefore constantly organised and governed. Taking an economic sociological and Foucauldian perspective, I develop a research agenda to explore how affluent consumption becomes a legitimised and institutionalised norm. I highlight the strong interdependencies within a political economy of affluent consumption between public policies, corporate business models and consumer practices. Following numerous social sciences studies, I suggest that the belief that such an ecological transition could rest on the shoulders of consumers alone is illusory.
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