Gendered Consumption and Production: Understanding the Gender/Sustainability Nexus in the Swedish Fashion Industry
(2023) Nature-Society Relations and the Global Environmental Crisis – Thinking on Climate Change and Sustainability from the Fields of Intersectional Theory and Transdisciplinary Gender Studies- Abstract
- My research is concerned with the co-optation of sustainability, feminism, and social justice within and by the fast fashion industry in Sweden. This stems from a desire to understand the acceleration of sustainability discourse and narratives built by brands (through communication, advertisement, marketing, and sustainability reporting) and how this shapes consumption. I argue that the dominating narrative within fast fashion brands is a neoliberal one that is both techno optimistic as well as uncritical of consumerism. Through an analysis of the discourses of sustainability, feminism, and social justice in the fast fashion industry in Sweden, my PhD research aims to critically examine the current sustainability solutions offered by... (More)
- My research is concerned with the co-optation of sustainability, feminism, and social justice within and by the fast fashion industry in Sweden. This stems from a desire to understand the acceleration of sustainability discourse and narratives built by brands (through communication, advertisement, marketing, and sustainability reporting) and how this shapes consumption. I argue that the dominating narrative within fast fashion brands is a neoliberal one that is both techno optimistic as well as uncritical of consumerism. Through an analysis of the discourses of sustainability, feminism, and social justice in the fast fashion industry in Sweden, my PhD research aims to critically examine the current sustainability solutions offered by fashion companies and explain why they fail to address some of the core problems in fashion, such as over-production and over-consumption, as well as the unethical nature of garment factory work.
In my dissertation I try to understand the connection between gender and sustainability in the realm of fashion and consumption as well as more broadly and conceptually. One of my main arguments is that fashion companies adhere to the gender binary by advertising sustainable or ethical products specifically to women consumers, as they are expected to act and consume more sustainably. This is a problematic phenomenon which mostly accelerates consumption rather than lower it. Gender is an essential lens to understand sustainable consumption and fashion, partly because fashion and clothes are so intimately tied to desire and performativity, and gender is the best toolbox to deal with those elements. I argue that the way women’s subjectivities are constructed in fashion discourse creates a dichotomy between empowered conscious consumers, and empowerment seeking workers, creating an assumption that through the act of consumption, informed and benevolent consumers in the global North can help create a sustainable and socially just global future. This intensifies the dichotomy between women of the global North and the global South in a way that is not reflective of reality, while also creating a harmful hierarchy. In my research argue that encouraging so-called sustainable consumption ultimately is an ineffective way of making the fashion industry socially or ecologically sustainable.
I plan to present an empirical chapter where I analyse interview material as well as fashion advertisements and social media content pertaining to sustainable consumption and female empowerment. The different types of material help to paint a wider picture of the different ways in which discourses on gender and sustainability operate within the fast fashion industry. (Less)
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https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/c00b7e37-37e3-4eaa-b444-7542a293cfac
- author
- Takedomi Karlsson, Mariko LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-04
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- conference name
- Nature-Society Relations and the Global Environmental Crisis – Thinking on Climate Change and Sustainability from the Fields of Intersectional Theory and Transdisciplinary Gender Studies
- conference location
- Berlin, Germany
- conference dates
- 2023-05-04 - 2023-05-06
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c00b7e37-37e3-4eaa-b444-7542a293cfac
- date added to LUP
- 2023-05-06 12:36:16
- date last changed
- 2023-05-10 15:05:45
@misc{c00b7e37-37e3-4eaa-b444-7542a293cfac,
abstract = {{My research is concerned with the co-optation of sustainability, feminism, and social justice within and by the fast fashion industry in Sweden. This stems from a desire to understand the acceleration of sustainability discourse and narratives built by brands (through communication, advertisement, marketing, and sustainability reporting) and how this shapes consumption. I argue that the dominating narrative within fast fashion brands is a neoliberal one that is both techno optimistic as well as uncritical of consumerism. Through an analysis of the discourses of sustainability, feminism, and social justice in the fast fashion industry in Sweden, my PhD research aims to critically examine the current sustainability solutions offered by fashion companies and explain why they fail to address some of the core problems in fashion, such as over-production and over-consumption, as well as the unethical nature of garment factory work.<br/><br/>In my dissertation I try to understand the connection between gender and sustainability in the realm of fashion and consumption as well as more broadly and conceptually. One of my main arguments is that fashion companies adhere to the gender binary by advertising sustainable or ethical products specifically to women consumers, as they are expected to act and consume more sustainably. This is a problematic phenomenon which mostly accelerates consumption rather than lower it. Gender is an essential lens to understand sustainable consumption and fashion, partly because fashion and clothes are so intimately tied to desire and performativity, and gender is the best toolbox to deal with those elements. I argue that the way women’s subjectivities are constructed in fashion discourse creates a dichotomy between empowered conscious consumers, and empowerment seeking workers, creating an assumption that through the act of consumption, informed and benevolent consumers in the global North can help create a sustainable and socially just global future. This intensifies the dichotomy between women of the global North and the global South in a way that is not reflective of reality, while also creating a harmful hierarchy. In my research argue that encouraging so-called sustainable consumption ultimately is an ineffective way of making the fashion industry socially or ecologically sustainable.<br/><br/>I plan to present an empirical chapter where I analyse interview material as well as fashion advertisements and social media content pertaining to sustainable consumption and female empowerment. The different types of material help to paint a wider picture of the different ways in which discourses on gender and sustainability operate within the fast fashion industry.}},
author = {{Takedomi Karlsson, Mariko}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Gendered Consumption and Production: Understanding the Gender/Sustainability Nexus in the Swedish Fashion Industry}},
year = {{2023}},
}