ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the ‘third wave’ of a growing number of studies of ethical consumption which identify the importance of relocating the consideration of ethical consumption within the cultural ethics of consumption. That is, by considering consumption practices at a sociological level. Consumer identity work has gained significant momentum in studies of consumption more generally, predicated on the notion that consumption is a central function in human life and that consumers use products, services and brands as ‘props’ to self-identity. It has been increasingly recognised that consumer identity is fluid, especially where ethical consumer ‘subjectivities’ are adapted in response to changing historical conditions. Szmigin and Carrigan conceptualise ethical consumption as an integrative practice. In ethical consumption research, discourse tends to focus either on the practice of ethical consumption or on being an ethical consumer.
