Mediating Sustainability in the Consumer Society

This book sheds light on the role and impact of sustainability mediation, an effective tool for political authorities and business enterprises to persuade consumers of the integrity of their actions, products, and services. In this era of ecological and societal crises fuelled by increasing consumption, sustainability has become a key buzzword and target to attain. Governments around the world argue that they will meet their sustainability goals through environmental actions, by enabling consumers to make better choices and expecting brands to respond accordingly. At the same time, consumers are overwhelmed by the messaging conveyed in sustainability marketing campaigns, often featuring misleading greenwashing, with political authorities, organisations, and business enterprises all having conflicting interests. In this complex scenario, mediation has become a crucial issue. This book offers a critical and multidisciplinary view of sustainability mediation from experts in the fields of philosophy, consumption research, media studies, fashion, design, and citizenship, offering a unique, holistic view. Each chapter highlights different and problematic aspects of the cultural narratives being communicated, for example, the necessity of growth and the notion of a green economy. They present current theories, methods, indicators, and strategies used to assess and measure the relation between mediation, behaviour, and sustainable development. This book is of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students in all subject fields concerned with sustainability, including design, visual communication, fashion, consumption, media and journalism, and sustainable development.

Astrid Skjerven is Professor Emerita of Design Theory at the Department of Product Design, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Norway. Lisbeth Løvbak Berg is a researcher in the Sustainable Textile and Food Consumption Research Group at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO), Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Norway. Liv Merete Nielsen is Professor Emerita of Design Education at the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Norway. Dagny Stuedahl is Professor of Media Design in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Norway, and Henrik-Steffens Professor at Nordeuropa-Institut, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany (2022-2025).

Introduction Part 1: Ethics 1. Sustainability and its discontents: recovering the sources of value 2. Sustainability discourses and the question of democracy 3. Exploring Norway's audiovisual industry: a study on communicated engagement in sustainable practices Part 2: Consumption 4. Who can stop the greenwashing 5. Future of sustainable fashion communications: from marketing messages to the mediation of mutable meanings Part 3: Communication 6. Creating sustainability by mythmaking: IKEA's advertising campaigns "The Trash Collection" and "The Life Collection" 7. Cultivating responsibility through Instagram: fashion, revolution and narrative 8. Imagination and agency: on the role of fiction in ecological discourses Part 4: Literacy 9. Redefining digital literacy for sustainable mediation 10. Communicating sustainable uses of plastics in a museum setting: the case of the Museum of Design in Plastics 11. Indigenous approaches to mediation of the climate and nature emergency: a conversation with Vanessa Andreotti