SOCI 342 Chapter n/a: Ethical Consumption Sustainability, Fair Trade & Social & Env't Justice
Document Summary
Michael f. maniates, individualization: plant a tree, buy a bike, save the. This response half-consciously understands environmental degradation as the product of individual shortcomings (the once-ler"s greed, for example), best countered by action that is staunchly individual and typically consumer-based (buy a tree and plant it!) Accordingly, this dominant response emphasizes (like the lorax himself) the need to speak politely, and individually, armed only with facts. For the lack of a better term, call this response the individualization of re- sponsibility. When responsibility for environmental problems is individualized, there is little room to ponder institutions, the nature and exercise of political power, or ways of collectively changing the distribution of power and infuence in society to, in other words, think institutionally. Instead, the serious work of confronting the threatening socio- environmental processes that the lorax so ably illuminates falls to individuals, acting alone, usually as consumer.
