ABSTRACT
Postmodern, consumer societies revolve around a fundamentally materialist culture; one where the possession of many goods and services is desired more for their capacity to hold and engender a symbolic character than, perhaps, for their intrinsic utilitarian qualities. The very power and ubiquitousness of symbolic consumption in postmodern society also contains the potential to neutralize or counteract some of these environmental dangers. This chapter is based on the findings derived from in-depth interviews with the leading figures in seventy four enterprises located mostly in Northern Britain and especially in the North West region. The business of selling products that embody certain ethical claims necessarily invites scrutiny and calls for proof. Although the radical entrepreneurs were endeavouring to run a reasonably successful enterprise, and so they were accountable to market pressures, they were simultaneously dedicated to using their firms as vehicles for the attainment of wider non-economic goals.
