ABSTRACT
How do people act in relation to media to contribute to a sustainable society? The chapter answers this research question by explicating the theoretical concept of consumption-critical media practices through a discussion of findings from empirical case studies of media practices located at the levels of media content, appropriation, and production. These examples are online platforms advertising for sustainability, the repairing of media technologies, and the production of fair media devices. The aim of the chapter is twofold. First, the media practice paradigm is introduced into the research field of media, communication, and sustainability as the case studies show what people do in relation to media to contribute to a sustainable society. Second, the chapter argues for a broad understanding of the term media practice: as the empirical case studies that unfold the concept of consumption-critical media studies show, people not only use media to contribute to sustainability, but also act on media when they are repairing media technologies or producing fair media devices. The concept of acting on media which is explicated here relates to media practices in which people, organizations, or collectives place the focus of their action on media technologies themselves: they reflect on devices and their materialities, engage with apparatuses, modify and transform them.
