Nuancing Holistic Simplicity in Sweden: A Statistical Exploration of Consumption, Age and Gender

Studies of sustainable ways of life have hitherto made limited use of register data since, e.g., voluntary simplicity is usually identified through characteristics that cannot be found in data registers. Despite this, claims about these trends have been made in many countries, at times generalising the phenomena both in academia and media, based on anecdotal examples. This article draws on a quantifiable definition of holistic simplicity (Etzioni 1998) that includes certain fully measurable aspects, such as living in more affluent suburbs, moving to less affluent places and a significant reduction in individual work income. Other aspects are partially observable in register data, such as housing and car consumption. The advantage of this study is that it combines relevant theories around voluntary simplicity with register data that capture important characteristics of the entire national population (in this case, in Sweden) and thus, to some extent, also captures the magnitude of the phenomena. The article aims to statistically explore different demographic groups’ probability of becoming holistic simplifiers in Sweden, regarding their consumption, gender and age. It discusses opportunities and limitations for advancing our knowledge on voluntary simplicity in Sweden, with current findings suggesting more of the same consumption patterns and only initial paths to degrowth. This is discussed in the context of individuals’ agency in a state such as Sweden, which is changing from collectivist social democratic values to more neo-liberal conditions.

The Spillover Effect of the Consumerism Trap: Analyzing Nauru’s Resource Curse Phenomenon to Voluntary Simplicity Prescriptions for Nauruans

The flow of people and goods with the existence of globalization brought a new pattern of life. People tend to change their consumption pattern from fulfilling the basic needs to becoming consumerism; a behavior of buying goods and services that are more concerned with what is desired than what is needed. This phenomenon established a new problem called the consumerism trap; a dilemmatic situation in which we want to dismiss consumerism but the impact it causes is even more detrimental. The upcoming question will be about, is consumerism trap is increasingly escalated with globalization in this contemporary era? The author argues that globalization accelerates the pattern of consumerism. This paper portrays Nauru as the best example to support the author’s argument because it shows that Nauruans are complacent with their wealth of phosphate resources, then become lazy, dependent, and finally adopt a consumerism lifestyle. It made Nauruans trapped in spillover problems, like environmental degradation, obesity, financial flows by build shell banks, etc. To sum up, the era of globalization increasingly giving space for people to be trapped in the consumerism trap; moreover, society does not see the continued implications of consumerism. By analyzing Nauru, we learned how globalization accelerates consumerism and creating spillover effects for the country. At the end, the author gives a prescription to solve this problem by doing voluntary simplicity as the antithesis of consumerism.

Study Abroad and Engagement at the Local and Global Levels: The Stories Behind the Numbers

In this study, we address the question of whether and how the internationalization of higher education, particularly its study abroad aspect, has contributed to the common good. Much of the past discussion on study abroad impact has been largely concentrated on outcomes at the personal level. Using qualitative data from the Study Abroad for Global Engagement project, this study analyzes how former study abroad participants contributed to the global common good at the levels of local, glocal, and global communities. The findings show that many chose to practice global engagement, such as civic engagement, philanthropic activities, social entrepreneurship, and voluntary simplicity, for the common good, as the result of study abroad. This article concludes with discussion of implications for research, theory, policy, and practice.

The Gateway to Well-being and Happiness: Re-defining Individualism, Voluntary Simplicity and Civilization

This article is an attempt to depict principles and philosophical lines so as to promote the well-being and happiness of people and communities. The principles of theoretical research govern the methods and tools of making analysis and inferences. In this regard, theories from positive psychology, behavioral & institutional economics, sociology, and anthropology were consulted. The study starts by reviewing the theoretical and empirical literature on the two interrelated concepts, well-being and happiness. Doing so, it looks into a systematic analysis into what factors are weighing in determining well-being and happiness at individual and collective levels. In this regard, it identifies individualism, voluntary simplicity, and civilization concepts as key variables. With the benchmark being the conventional narratives, the study tries to characterize those concepts in a way that better appeals to pillars of well-being and happiness concepts. While making characterizations on individualism, voluntary simplicity, and civilization, the study infers the drawbacks of the underlying constructs of the conventional understandings and comes up with alternative ones in a way that better serves the affective and eudemonic well-being of people. In this regard, it came up with concepts of individualism-proper, a theoretical contribution of this work in redefining the concept of individualism in a better way to promote collective well-being and happiness. It also revisits the notion of voluntary simplicity in a way to appeal business of life and at all levels, from individual to societal to country level. As such, the paper tries to frame the foundation of collective happiness and well-being by pinpointing philosophical lines, depicting moral standards and/or principles that people shall pursue in their intra-personal and inter-personal relationships. The study further evokes the academia and policy regimes to consider why and how well-being and happiness issues should be the pinpoint of their respective endeavors.

Young People as Drivers or Inhibitors of the Sustainability Movement: The Case of Anti-Consumption

As overconsumption has negative effects on ecological balance, social equality, and individual well-being, reducing consumption levels among the materially affluent is an emerging strategy for sustainable development. Today’s youth form a crucial target group for intervening in unsustainable overconsumption habits and for setting the path and ideas on responsible living. This article explores young people’s motivations for engaging in three behavioural patterns linked to anti-consumption (voluntary simplicity, collaborative consumption, and living within one’s means) in relation to sustainability. Applying a qualitative approach, laddering interviews reveal the consequences and values behind the anti-consumption behaviours of young people of ages 14 to 24 according to a means-end chains analysis. The findings highlight potential for and the challenges involved in motivating young people to reduce material levels of consumption for the sake of sustainability. Related consumer policy tools from the fields of education and communication are identified. This article provides practical implications for policy makers, activists, and educators. Consumer policies may strengthen anti-consumption among young people by addressing individual benefits, enabling reflection on personal values, and referencing credible narratives. The presented insights can help give a voice to young consumers, who struggle to establish themselves as key players in shaping the future consumption regime.

Is archaeology conceivable within the degrowth movement?

Since the 1980s, archaeology has been further embedded in a reinforced and accelerating capitalist ideology, namely neo-liberalism. Most archaeologists had no alternative but to adapt to it through concessions to the free-market economy and to the so-called mitigations taking place within development. However, it is now apparent that the ongoing global socio-ecological disaster we are facing cannot be reversed with compromises but rather with a radical engagement against the injunctions of competition and growth. I suggest that we must anticipate the necessary transformations of archaeology in the coming decades, before archaeology becomes a technical avatar of the neo-liberal dogma, or before its complete annihilation for being deemed ‘superfluous’ (Wurst 2019, 171) by the capitalist regime. In this paper, I will use the idea of ‘degrowth’ to propose a new paradigm for archaeology by applying the concepts of civil disobedience, voluntary simplicity, redistribution of means and the ethics of no-growth.