Consumption and social change: Sustainable lifestyles in times of economic crisis

Studies of the economic crisis that started in 2007, and has shaped social life in many countries during the intervening years, tend to emphasize issues at the macro-level and to focus on the antecedents, effects, and consequences of the unfolding event (Alimen and Bayraktaroglu, 2011; Shiller 2012). Research has, for example, emphasized the changing production structure and its influence on various sectors of the economy and declining economic growth rates. Less prevalent have been investigations detailing the effect of the crisis on the daily lives of individuals, the way it has changed lifestyles, and the manner in which people have adjusted their consumption patterns to new economic situations (but see Ang, 2000; Alimen and Bayraktaroglu, 2011; Faganel, 2011; Prothero and McDonagh, 2014). The few studies that have explored these issues conclude that protracted economic strain has changed household-consumption practices and reshaped social perceptions of necessity and luxury. However, did this change have any effect on sustainable consumption practices? Did it encourage the disavowal of behaviors associated with consumerism or enhance awareness of the risks of excess and saturation? Did it prompt people to seek a new balance between consumption and production behaviors?