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POLITICAL CONSUMERISM 287

Political acts, in this view, only arise when of departure in the search for real alterna-
organizations and individuals develop sus- tives, while for most other researchers,
tainable and clearly critical discourses and responsible consumerism is an end in itself.
practices – based on their objectives or their A position like that of Benasayag or Jordan
ways of functioning – about one or a number does not entail only a modification of con-
of dimensions of current capitalist economic sumer choices, but rather an individual with-
relations. The CSA initiatives, for example, drawal from the institutions and lifestyles of
propose radical changes and give consumers consumer society and a collective reconstitu-
a role radically different from that assigned tion of concrete alternatives in order to
them in post-World War II Western societies. ensure the reproduction of life. In this posi-
For an action to be truly politicized, it is not tion, there is clearly a protest and a refusal to
enough merely to claim that it is expressing a collaborate with the current economic and
political position. Cooperation with the political system.
system or challenging it is measured by the
duration, the repetition and the institutional-
ization of alternative practices. This is akin to
the position developed by researchers such as CONCLUDING REMARKS
David Goodman and his colleagues, who
have come to conceive of certain alternative I hope that I have succeeded in demonstrating
practices of production and consumption as that, in the mainstream trends of social sci-
political acts, when they express social imag- ence research about responsible consumerism
inaries which are critical of the hegemonic (or political consumerism), the conception of
pretensions of capitalist logic. The political politics is often, if not nonexistent, at least
potential, whether to promote change or vague. The definitions and analytical models
maintain the status quo, is therefore meas- change depending on whether one adopts the
ured by the analysis of the social forms of viewpoint of marketing, political science,
networks of production, distribution and con- economic sociology or of critical sociology.
sumption. Micheletti and her colleagues, as Research on consumerism in general is quite
good political scientists trained in the analy- disparate. As a result, it is not clear that one
sis of electoral systems, only record inten- may conceptualize and understand behav-
tions and actual actions, without taking into iours which are ‘labelled’ responsible con-
account the socialization of individuals, their sumerism as political acts.
real conditions of existence and their posi- In my opinion, such research would benefit
tions in social networks. from an analysis of consumerism as a socially
A third, even more radical, position would constructed activity, which is differentiated
be one of ‘dissenting’ or ‘critical’ subjectiv- according to socio-economic contexts, cul-
ity, the ongoing search for coherence and bal- tures and local traditions. At present, this is
ance between beliefs and real life. This is a not being done; everything that has preceded
logic that arises from total personal commit- and determined the act of consumption is
ment. Inspired by libertarian positions and taken for granted. We also need to adopt a
those of Gandhi, for example, authors such clear definition and detailed indicators of
as Jordan or Benasayag will theorize about a political participation and consumerism as a
total situational commitment, an individual political act. Theoretical work on this subject
position that consists of immediately putting is still embryonic and the authors referred to
into action the world which is envisioned. in this article are pioneers. As we have
From this perspective, strategies of collective shown, there are a number of nuances to
action must contribute to bringing about the consider about political commitment and
ideal society. Responsible consumerism thus the depth of the critique that an act of con-
becomes a temporary expedient, and a point sumption may express.