ABSTRACT
An assumption of selfishness also lies behind many explanations of the problem of unsustainable consumption as well as the solution to this. Such assumptions are often rather oblique, implied rather than clearly stated. This chapter challenges the idea that selfishness is a part of human nature. To do this, it first looks at the roots of this story in the rational choice model originating in economics. The chapter then outlines critiques of rational choice and work in the field of economics that has further advanced these ideas, including ecological and behavioural economics. It finishes by profiling the work on individualisation, which deals with some similar ideas from a sociological perspective. People must feel personally threatened by environmental problems in order to take action, that ultimately people's selfishness must be engaged to provoke them to make change.
