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A better understanding of the factors at play in the normalisation of sustainable lifestyle choices is essential to achieve a large-scale transition to sufficiency-oriented lifestyles and societies. Aiming to contribute to this understanding, this article builds on literature on normativity and normalisation related to consumption and analyses interview material from a study with 25 Swedish individuals who aim to reduce their consumption. The analysis identifies both contextual and processual factors that dynamically interact in the process of normalising reduced consumption. The contextual factors are the cultural and social contexts shaping the ways consumption is practised, like social norms and sociomaterial infrastructures, but they also include the different settings where consumption is practised and talked about in everyday life, such as in the household, the workplace and with friends. The processual factors refer to factors of importance in the reduction process itself, such as the strengthening of reflexive capacity and the (re)negotiation of ‘normality’ through social interaction. Even if sociomaterial infrastructure and ideas of comfort act as barriers in the reduction process, we can discern a shift in norms around consumption in Sweden, towards normalising reduced consumption. The results show that renegotiating meanings and developing new competences and skills are important parts of normalising more sufficiency-oriented ways of consuming. They further suggest how everyday conversations and inspiring examples can help push the boundaries of what is perceived as ‘normal’ consumption, by initiating explicit negotiations about what consumption is acceptable in certain contexts.

Humanity exceeds or threatens to exceed the planetary boundaries. The problem of unsustainable lifestyles in affluent contexts is, therefore, increasingly up for debate. Despite growing attention, this theoretical article argues that there is, in science as well as policy, a lack of recognition of the problem of unsustainable volumes of consumption, and institutional failure to address radical lifestyle change. While there is broad consensus about the societal need to address consumption patterns, controversies remain about the need to address the volumes of consumption. The article takes this debate as a point of departure and focuses specifically on a tendency in critical consumption studies within sociology and related disciplines: the neglect of the larger transformative potential embedded in lifestyle change at the grassroot level. It contributes with six arguments for why it is necessary to consider individual lifestyle changes, and particularly consumption reduction, as an active part of the greater transformation needed to make our societies fit within the planetary boundaries. It also contributes by highlighting five critical aspects on how such bottom-up change can contribute to transformative change. It thus contributes to the sociological and interdisciplinary theoretical, empirical, and normative discussion around the interplay between lifestyle change and sustainability transformation.

Adoption of sufficiency-oriented lifestyles is an important part of curbing overconsumption, yet many individuals who try to reduce their consumption volumes experience social difficulties. Combining the perspectives of care and sufficiency-oriented lifestyle changes, this article aims to contribute to the understanding of why such social obstacles occur, how they might be counteracted and in what ways social relations instead may facilitate consumption reduction. Starting from an interview study with 25 Swedish consumption reducers, this article builds on a processual theory of consumer identity and the perspective of care to explore how care and consumption are (re) negotiated in the different stages of reduction. The results highlight the different aspects of care involved in consumption reduction – from motivations for change to negotiations toward a more holistic understanding of care – and show that consumption reduction in many ways is an ongoing process of both caring and striving. By emphasizing how care is renegotiated in a gradual construction of a caring consumer identity, this article discusses the importance of maintaining a sensitivity to the multi-faceted nature of care, acknowledging it both as a source of difficulties and as a key driver for sufficiency-oriented lifestyle changes.

Varför har vi en klimatkris? Och vad kan vi göra åt den? Den här boken förklarar på ett lättbegripligt sätt hur vi människor påverkar klimatet och planeten, och vad vi tillsammans kan göra annorlunda. Boken blandar fakta och filosofiska frågor med tips och inspiration för hur man kan påverka och förändra, och tar barnens frågor och oro inför framtiden på allvar.

Boken ger också hopp - genom förståelse för varför vi har hamnat där vi är idag och vad vi behöver förändra hittar vi handlingskraft och engagemang. Fokus ligger på vuxenvärldens ansvar och hur barnen kan påverka de vuxna att göra saker annorlunda för en hållbar framtid där vi tar bättre hand om vår planet.

In transitions toward more sustainable and just societies, there is an urgent need to address overconsumption and to include a sufficiency perspective. This article contributes to previous research by exploring what a framework for a politics of sufficiency might entail and how such a framework can be used to analyze existing public policy. Our case analysis is the policy field of sustainable consumption and waste prevention in the context of Sweden. Based on interviews with public officials and civil society representatives, we identify key areas to address when aiming for a sufficiency orientation. Our results suggest that local and regional governments that strive for a commitment to sufficiency should formulate clear goals that serve to set environmental limits, for instance, in the form of carbon budgets, and then steer toward well-being for the inhabitants within these limits. Efforts should be made to secure stable funding for work within sustainable consumption and waste prevention, especially for projects with synergies in terms of reducing consumption and strengthening non-market relations. Using public procurement is another key tool. In the absence of an overall national politics of sufficiency, the above-mentioned strategies can be and already are to some degree, used by authorities in Sweden.

In the context of resisting throwaway culture and aiming for a sufficiency-based circular economy, it is vital that consumption is slowed down—both in terms of reduced acquisition and reduction of the volumes of material resources moving through the system. To date it has been difficult to engage mainstream consumers with sustainable consumption practices, including sufficiency, but we suggest that the recent growth in popularity of decluttering, self-care and other wellbeing movements, exemplified here by Marie Kondo’s globally successful method for tidying up, may help. We review the topics of sufficiency and wellbeing, the potential of material interaction or ritualised reflection for behavioural transformation, our interpretation of consumption “moments” and the KonMari decluttering method before introducing the empirical study which took place in Sweden and the UK and Ireland. Participants were recruited through Facebook groups, with around 300 surveyed and 12 interviewed in each geography, and the interviews were qualitatively coded and analysed. Findings were surprisingly similar, highlighting a significant shift reported by participants in their approach to consumption following their introduction to and practice of the method, in particular a more reflective and restrained approach with regard to the acquisition of new things. Taking into account initial increases in disposal, the method of reporting findings and dangers of rebound, we cannot conclude that KonMari is a straightforward route to reduced consumption. Nevertheless for those who have embraced the ritual and created a more desirable home environment by discovering what “sparks joy” for them, it seems that a change in the meaning of material acquisition or possession and a slowing down of consumption through a reduction in shopping can be an unintended result.

The affluent groups and societies in the world have made material consumption part of their lifestyle. Today, overconsumption has come to constitute an acute environmental problem, both with regards to the natural resources needed to satisfy our ever-growing wants, and to the mountains of waste it leaves behind.

Starting from a global justice perspective and from an understanding of sustainability as keeping within the planetary boundaries, this thesis argues that it is urgent that affluent individuals, groups and societies develop a sense of sufficiency, of “good and enough”. Focusing on sufficiency in the area of material consumption, this thesis explores paths that could be taken to strengthen sufficiency as an idea and value within a consumerist society and culture, and aims to answer the overarching question of how an affluent society might orient itself towards sufficiency. Against the background framework of political ecology, relational geography and sustainable consumption literature, sufficiency is framed as a question of responsibility – the responsibility of the affluent individuals, groups and societies in the world to refrain from taking more than their fair share, or, in other words, to withdraw from their excess environmental space.

Two cases of sufficiency-related practice in Sweden are studied: one of individuals who actively and voluntarily reduce their consumption to only the basics over the period of one year, and one of individuals using the ‘’KonMari Method’’ to declutter their homes. The thesis shows that the difference between these practices in regard to consumption is a question of intentionality: The buy-nothing practitioners intentionally want to stop consuming, whereas the majority of the KonMariers – as a result of their practice – eventually cease to want to consume, despite the absence of this as an original driver. These results point to the importance of looking at different kinds of entry into more sufficient consumption practices, and at the motivations behind them when it comes to policies aimed at reducing material consumption. The findings further serve to create an understanding for how a sense of sufficiency might develop in an affluent context.

Based on literature discussing a framework for a politics of sufficiency and on interviews with public officials and civil society representatives working with sustainable consumption at different levels in Sweden, this thesis further explores the obstacles to and potential for orienting an affluent society towards sufficiency. Certain potential for a more sufficiency-oriented future is identified, not least in terms of a cultural shift and elements of “sufficiency thinking” among the informants. However, the thesis stresses the importance of rethinking our understanding of limits, being outspoken about what the existence of planetary boundaries implies in terms of limiting resource use and defining clear goals that respect those boundaries and emphasize societal values at the basis of ‘the good life’, such as well-being, health and ecological sustainability.

Rika grupper och samhällen i världen har gjort materiell konsumtion till en del av sin livsstil. Idag har överkonsumtion kommit att utgöra ett akut miljöproblem, både i fråga om de naturresurser som krävs för att tillgodose våra ständigt växande behov och det avfall som den ger upphov till.

Med utgångspunkt i ett globalt rättviseperspektiv och i en förståelse av hållbarhet som innebär att hålla sig inom de planetära gränserna, argumenterar denna avhandling för nödvändigheten i att rika individer, grupper och samhällen utvecklar en känsla av tillräcklighet, av "bra och nog" (good and enough). I avhandlingen undersöks olika vägar som kan tas för att stärka tillräcklighet som idé och värde i ett samhälle präglat av en konsumtionskultur. Avhandlingen syftar till att besvara den övergripande frågan om hur ett välmående samhälle kan styra mot tillräcklighet, med specifikt fokus på materiell konsumtion. Mot bakgrund av ett teoretiskt ramverk av politisk ekologi, relationell geografi och hållbar konsumtion, definieras tillräcklighet här som en fråga om ansvar. Det är ett ansvar som åligger rika individer, grupper och samhällen i världen, och som handlar om att avstå från att ta mer än sin beskärda del, eller, med andra ord, att minska sin negativa miljöpåverkan genom att dra sig tillbaka ifrån det alltför stora miljöutrymme som de upptar idag.

I avhandlingen studeras två grupper som på olika sätt praktiserar tillräcklighet: dels individer som frivilligt har minskat sin konsumtion till det basala under ett ”köpfritt år”, och dels individer som har använt sig av ”KonMari-metoden” för att rensa i sina hem. Avhandlingen visar att skillnaden mellan dessa praktiker när det gäller konsumtion är en fråga om avsiktlighet: Den köpfria gruppen vill avsiktligt sluta konsumera, medan majoriteten av KonMari-gruppen så småningom upphör att vilja konsumera i samma utsträckning som tidigare, som en följd av sin praktik. Dessa resultat pekar på vikten av att titta på olika typer av ingångar i mer tillräckliga konsumtionspraktiker och anledningarna bakom dem när det kommer till att ta fram åtgärder som har som mål att minska den materiella konsumtionen. Resultaten bidrar också till att skapa en förståelse för hur en känsla av tillräcklighet kan utvecklas.

Baserat på litteratur som diskuterar centrala element i en ”tillräcklighetspolitik” och på intervjuer med offentliga tjänstemän och företrädare för det civila samhället som arbetar med hållbar konsumtion på olika nivåer i Sverige, undersöks hinder och potential för att styra samhället mot tillräcklighet. Viss potential identifieras, inte minst när det gäller förändring av kultur och normer samt ett ”tillräcklighetstänk” bland informanterna. Avhandlingen betonar dock vikten av att ompröva vår förståelse av gränser, visa tydlighet i fråga om vad de planetära gränserna betyder när det kommer till att begränsa resursanvändning, samt att formulera tydliga mål som respekterar de gränserna och utgår från värden som ligger till grund för ‘det goda livet’, så som välmående, hälsa och ekologisk hållbarhet.