If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much: Vereeniging Nederlandsch Fabrikaat, the citizen-consumer and Dutch nationalist consumption in the interwar Netherlands

Recent scholarship has paid considerable attention to the emergence of the citizen-consumer in the interwar era. Drawing on the literature from the fields of ethical consumption and consumer history, this paper opts for a broader perspective on the emergence of the citizen-consumer in historical analysis. It combines the polysemic nature of the hybrid citizen-consumer from food studies and ethical consumption, and the socio-historic analysis concerning political and cultural citizenship, by showing how consumption practices have been used to shape Dutch national citizenship. In the Netherlands, the private association Vereeniging Nederlandsch Fabrikaat (VNF) was one of the earliest and most vocal organisations that linked consumerism with an ideal of citizenship. Scholars typically tend to see the rise of the citizen-consumer as a product of three interest groups: the consumers, the state, or the industry. The VNF did not just appeal to consumers themselves, but also the government, and the business community to play their part in the development of the ideal Dutch citizen-consumer. By studying the practices of this association this paper thus offers a new perspective on the emergence of the citizen-consumer within a transnational perspective.

Global citizenship and the global citizen/consumer: Perspectives from practitioners in development NGOs in Portugal

This paper makes an empirical contribution to the debate about the pluralism of global citizenship. This is considered a crucial aspect for research, not only because charity and social justice standpoints coexist, but also in the light of growing examples of neoliberal understandings about global citizenship education and the global citizen. Informed by critical and postcolonial thinking and with a special focus on Andreotti’s discursive orientations, this paper analyses discourses of practitioners of global citizenship education who work in development NGOs in Portugal. Findings suggest that humanist views are predominant, although intertwined with neoliberal and postcolonial perspectives. They also point to an archetypical vision of the global citizen and a prevalence of the responsible citizen-consumer as an agent of social change.

Market Exchanges, Negative Externalities and Sustainability

Lusch (2017), in an insightful article published posthumously, enumerated and elaborated on four macro observations concerning Homo sapiens and exchange. He noted that Homo sapiens massively (1) engage in exchanges with each other, (2) create tools to facilitate exchanges, (3) engage in exchanges with the vast majority of costs being unseen, and (4) create institutions to efficiently coordinate exchanges and interactions among the parties to the exchanges. Lusch also proposed a number meta-questions pertaining to the above macro views on Homo sapiens and exchange for future research. This article focuses on the following questions highlighted by Lusch in reference to the unseen costs of market exchanges from an economic, environmental and social sustainability perspective: (1) Do any of the theories that are currently in vogue shed light into unseen costs of market exchanges, or is there a need for new theories? (2) Can some or most unseen costs of market exchanges be quantified? (3) How important is it for individuals, organizations and governments to consider the unseen costs of market exchanges? In reference to the last question, the article proposes manifestos for Citizen Consumer Environmental Oath, Company Manager Environmental Oath, and Country Leader Environmental Oath, highlights the need to develop guiding consensus principles on Government Sustainability Responsibility, Corporate Sustainability Responsibility and Consumer Sustainability Responsibility, and proposes a principle in respect of each.

Verzerrte Studienergebnisse als Grundlage für politische Entscheidungen? Eine Analyse am Beispiel des Nutztierwohls

Befragungsergebnisse können aufgrund einer Vielzahl von Effekten systematisch verzerrt sein. Gleichzeitig spielen sie häufig eine entscheidende Rolle in der politischen Entscheidungsfindung. Hieraus ergibt sich kein Problem, solange bei der Durchführung und Interpretation von Befragungen effektive Verzerrungsvermeidungsstrategien Anwendung finden. Im Falle der sozialen Erwünschtheit ist dies in der Regel nicht zu erkennen. Werden auf Basis sozial erwünscht verzerrter Befragungsergebnisse Politikentscheidungen getroffen, kommt es zu Fehlallokationen. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt anhand von Kontrollskalen für das Beispiel des Nutztierwohls, dass die „Citizen-Consumer-Gap“ auf Soziale Erwünschtheit in bisherigen Verbraucherstudien zurückgeführt werden kann. Deren Ergebnisse sollten demnach nicht vorbehaltlos als Grundlage für unternehmerische und politische Investitionsentscheidungen dienen. Ergänzend werden weitere Ursachen für die nutztierwohlbezogene Citizen-Consumer-Gap analysiert.

Citizen-Consumers Wanted: Revitalizing the American Dream in the Face of Economic Recessions, 1981–2012

This article brings the sociological theory of governmentality to bear on a longitudinal analysis of American presidential speeches to theorize the formation of the citizen-consumer subject. This 40-year historical analysis—which extends through four economic recessions and the presidential terms of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—illustrates the ways in which the national mythology of the American Dream has been linked to the political ideology of the state to create the citizen-consumer subject in the United States. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data demonstrates 1) the consistent emphasis on responsibility as a key moral value, albeit meshed with ideals of liberalism and libertarianism at different presidential periods; 2) that the presidents iteratively link the neoliberal political ideology and the national mythology of the American Dream through a sophisticated morality play myth, wherein they cast the citizen-consumer as a responsible moral hero on a journey to achieve the American Dream; and 3) that the presidents use three main dispositives—disciplinary, legal, and security—to craft the citizen-consumer subject in their response to economic recessions. These findings extend prior consumer research on consumer subjectivity, consumer moralism, marketplace mythology, and politics of consumption.

LEGITIMIDAD POLÍTICA Y CONSUMO. REFLEXIONES E INTERROGANTES

El presente trabajo aborda críticamente la cuestión de la legitimidad política en el actual contexto postmoderno, desde la óptica del consumo y del ciudadano-consumidor, en tanto que elemento que ha adquirido especial protagonismo en la definición de lo político. This work critically addresses the issue of political legitimacy in the current post modern context, from the perspective of consumption and citizen-consumer, as an element that has acquired special prominence in the definition of the political.

Epilogue

This final chapter brings the narrative forward to the twenty-first century around the exploration of capitalism, the selective enforcement of morality, and the queer subject/citizen/consumer. It contrasts the treatment of drunken, heterosexual, college-aged Spring Breakers with the moral panics over gay and lesbian visibility. In 2015 anti-alcohol ordinances went into effect that were meant to curb the worst excesses of Spring Breakers. The beaches were finally quiet. In 1961, 1974, and 1993 “the homosexual” and more broadly queer shenanigans were the bogeyman that would supposedly scare away tourists. As the century ended, gay and lesbian visitors marshaled their market share and respectability politics to push back against moral panics. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, gentrification, pink capitalism, and respectability politics have proven hollow, which threatens to tear apart fragile coalitions.