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CONSUMPTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2018

Nicole Hassoun
Nicole Hassoun*
Affiliation:
Binghamton University, Department of Philosophy, 4400 Vestal Parkway, East Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902–6000. Email: nhassoun@binghamton.edu. URL: http://harvey.binghamton.edu/~nhassoun
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Abstract:

How should consumers exercise their basic economic powers? Recently, several authors have argued that consumption to bring about social change must be democratic. Others maintain that we may consume in ways that we believe promote positive change. This paper rejects both accounts and provides a new alternative. It argues that, under just institutions, people may consume as they like as long as they respect the institutions’ rules. Absent just institutions, significant moral constraints on consumption exist. Still, it is permissible, if not obligatory, for people to pursue non-democratic, genuinely positive, change within whatever moral constraints exist.

Keywords

ethical consumptioncommon good anarchismdemocratic consumptionpositive change consumption
Type
Article
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 29 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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