Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

“You feel small in the crisis in a way” - Climate change perceptions and sustainability in everyday life

Medin, Olivia LU (2022) SANK03 20221
Social Anthropology
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis examines how people from the Swedish middle-class experience their role in the climate crisis through their sustainable consumption and lifestyle practices. Today, consumer-fixated solutions are among the most prominent among large institutions, corporations and political unions globally. Simultaneously, policy initiatives to encourage sustainable practices have not effectively corresponded to the magnitude of climate change. Through an anthropological approach I wish to highlight how the people in the Swedish middle-class construct and identify their role in the climate crisis, in which they are both seen as a cause - and solution to climate change. Through a theoretical framework regarding barriers and framing, I argue that... (More)
This thesis examines how people from the Swedish middle-class experience their role in the climate crisis through their sustainable consumption and lifestyle practices. Today, consumer-fixated solutions are among the most prominent among large institutions, corporations and political unions globally. Simultaneously, policy initiatives to encourage sustainable practices have not effectively corresponded to the magnitude of climate change. Through an anthropological approach I wish to highlight how the people in the Swedish middle-class construct and identify their role in the climate crisis, in which they are both seen as a cause - and solution to climate change. Through a theoretical framework regarding barriers and framing, I argue that the means of the ability for the middle-class to construct a sustainable consumption culture will be impossible. The study shows the informants ability to live sustainably are entangled in perceptions of the self and others, financial and lifestyle limitations, and desires. Furthermore, the study shows that the informant's relation to being set up to save the planet is contested by notions of not personally being at fault for climate change, but also by only participating in environmental acts on an individual level. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Medin, Olivia LU
supervisor
organization
course
SANK03 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
social anthropology, individualisation, climate change, sustainable consumption, Sweden
language
English
id
9087497
date added to LUP
2022-06-12 19:38:14
date last changed
2022-06-12 19:38:14
@misc{9087497,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how people from the Swedish middle-class experience their role in the climate crisis through their sustainable consumption and lifestyle practices. Today, consumer-fixated solutions are among the most prominent among large institutions, corporations and political unions globally. Simultaneously, policy initiatives to encourage sustainable practices have not effectively corresponded to the magnitude of climate change. Through an anthropological approach I wish to highlight how the people in the Swedish middle-class construct and identify their role in the climate crisis, in which they are both seen as a cause - and solution to climate change. Through a theoretical framework regarding barriers and framing, I argue that the means of the ability for the middle-class to construct a sustainable consumption culture will be impossible. The study shows the informants ability to live sustainably are entangled in perceptions of the self and others, financial and lifestyle limitations, and desires. Furthermore, the study shows that the informant's relation to being set up to save the planet is contested by notions of not personally being at fault for climate change, but also by only participating in environmental acts on an individual level.}},
  author       = {{Medin, Olivia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“You feel small in the crisis in a way” - Climate change perceptions and sustainability in everyday life}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}