Paper or Plastic?: Energy, Environment, and Consumerism in Sweden and America

by Rita J. Erickson

Overview

This study compares household energy use, environmental awareness, and consumerism among residents of small towns in Sweden and America. The author, a cultural anthropologist, uses quantitative and qualitative data from fieldwork to formulate a holistic analysis. The study considers broader questions about the uses of energy, consumer goods, quality of life, and the environment. The industrial worldview is critiqued at both individual and institutional levels. It concludes with a call for a more spiritual approach to environmentalism and social issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275957667
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/30/1997
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

RITA J. ERICKSON is a post-doctoral associate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is the author of articles on energy use and environmental awareness. Though it is in her own backyard, she has never been to the Mall of America.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Communities and Their Contexts
House Contents and Fuel Consumption
Household Activities
Consumer Awareness: Energy, Self-Image, and Conservation
Energy Consumption: Cultural Mandates and Individual Rationales
Energy Conservation: Cultural Sanctions and Individual Motives
The New Environmental Focus
Consumerism
Worldview
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Erickson (anthropology, U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities) contends that people agonize over minutiae of environmental issues because they lack more general guidelines and rarely question consumerism either as ideology or practice. Finding that the Swedish welfare state and the US competitive capitalism are only variants of industrial consumer society, she addresses larger questions about consumerism that rose from her investigations about energy use and environmental awareness in daily life. Her answer to the question, by the way, is to bring your own bag. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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