Responsible consumption with a gender perspective: Consumption discourse and practices surrounding gender equality and sustainability in Madrid / Consumo responsable con perspectiva de género. Discursos y prácticas de consumo en torno a la equidad de género y sostenibilidad en Madrid

• Published in: Psyecology Vol. 5; no. 2-3; pp. 252 - 283
• Main Authors: Piñeiro, Concepción, Díaz, María-José, Palavecinos, Mireya, Alonso, Luis-Enrique, Benayas, Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Routledge 02.09.2014; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: comunicación ambiental; consumo responsable; discourse; discursos; environmental communication; gender; género; praxis; prácticas; sustainable consumption; praxis; gender; consumo responsable; environmental communication; sustainable consumption; prácticas; género; discursos; discourse; comunicación ambiental
• ISSN: 2171-1976; 1989-9386
• DOI: 10.1080/21711976.2014.942512

This study aims to examine the role that gender plays in sustainable consumption (SC) initiatives and environmental communication that encourages sustainable consumption and pro-environmental behaviour in Madrid. To do so, this project uses a qualitative methodology to perform a text analysis of 10 sustainable consumption guides and to hold personal interviews (eight experts in environmental communication and training on SC in Spain or/and Madrid) and four group interviews (different people involved in SC initiatives and projects in Madrid). The results describe the consumption-gender relationship in the practice and discourse of the initiatives studied and the people interviewed. We observe that the interviewees encounter several difficulties when applying a gender perspective on sustainable consumption initiatives. This perspective is not very visible in the discourse. The interviewees agree that applying the gender perspective is a chance to transform consumption discourses and practices in order to contribute to greater social justice as part of sustainability. Among the findings, we can highlight the presence of reflections on gender in the discourses, but they are a minority in regular communication on SC and still insufficient in SC practices.