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Between green consumerism and civic action – A case study of the solutions to environmental problems brought up in Swedish upper secondary education

Söderblom Tay, Andrea LU (2014) HEKM50 20141
Human Ecology
Abstract
Education is considered to be one of the most important tools for enabling the transition to a sustainable society, and it is commonly agreed that education for sustainable development (ESD) should be pluralistic, democratic and promote critical thinking. However, there are indications that education might be dominated by green consumerist approaches to solving environmental problems. If this is the case, it is highly problematic, since research has shown that green consumerism is not a reliable way to create a sustainable society. Some argue that a better way forward would be for people to engage for the environment in their role as citizens, rather than as consumers. This thesis investigates the prevalence of these two approaches in... (More)
Education is considered to be one of the most important tools for enabling the transition to a sustainable society, and it is commonly agreed that education for sustainable development (ESD) should be pluralistic, democratic and promote critical thinking. However, there are indications that education might be dominated by green consumerist approaches to solving environmental problems. If this is the case, it is highly problematic, since research has shown that green consumerism is not a reliable way to create a sustainable society. Some argue that a better way forward would be for people to engage for the environment in their role as citizens, rather than as consumers. This thesis investigates the prevalence of these two approaches in teaching and among students in Swedish upper secondary education through a case study of a class in Malmö, also looking into the feelings that the students have towards
environmental problems. The theoretical framework includes literature on myths about sustainable consumption, the privatisation of responsibility, and emotions towards environmental problems. The findings indicate that the green consumerist perspective is dominant, but also that the teachers are aware of the problematic aspects of it, and that students do acknowledge the importance of civic engagement when the topic is brought up. Findings regarding the students' emotions are somewhat ambiguous. In conclusion, there seems to be a need for further highlighting the possibility of civic engagement in schools. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Söderblom Tay, Andrea LU
supervisor
organization
course
HEKM50 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
education for sustainable development, environmental education, ESD, green consumerism, sustainable consumption, citizenship, privatisation of responsibility, eco-anxiety, anger, hope
language
English
id
4437884
date added to LUP
2015-11-09 16:30:46
date last changed
2015-11-09 16:30:46
@misc{4437884,
  abstract     = {{Education is considered to be one of the most important tools for enabling the transition to a sustainable society, and it is commonly agreed that education for sustainable development (ESD) should be pluralistic, democratic and promote critical thinking. However, there are indications that education might be dominated by green consumerist approaches to solving environmental problems. If this is the case, it is highly problematic, since research has shown that green consumerism is not a reliable way to create a sustainable society. Some argue that a better way forward would be for people to engage for the environment in their role as citizens, rather than as consumers. This thesis investigates the prevalence of these two approaches in teaching and among students in Swedish upper secondary education through a case study of a class in Malmö, also looking into the feelings that the students have towards
environmental problems. The theoretical framework includes literature on myths about sustainable consumption, the privatisation of responsibility, and emotions towards environmental problems. The findings indicate that the green consumerist perspective is dominant, but also that the teachers are aware of the problematic aspects of it, and that students do acknowledge the importance of civic engagement when the topic is brought up. Findings regarding the students' emotions are somewhat ambiguous. In conclusion, there seems to be a need for further highlighting the possibility of civic engagement in schools.}},
  author       = {{Söderblom Tay, Andrea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Between green consumerism and civic action – A case study of the solutions to environmental problems brought up in Swedish upper secondary education}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}