Our paper entitled “Consumers and Citizens in the Post-Growth Economy” has been published in the book on “Embracing Post-Growth: Sustainable Paths Beyond Conventional Economic Approaches” edited by Oriol Amat & Marcos Eguiguren. (Barcelona, Barcelona School of Management. pp. 89-129.)
The paper starts with the observation that in the Postgrowth Economy the difference between the role of consumer and the role of citizen can vanish as consumers – similar to citizens – increasingly take a broader view on the mission and function of business. Becoming conscious of environmental and social issues, consumer-citizens require ecological, prosocial, and ethical functioning from companies.
The paper argues that in the Postgrowth Economy businesses and other organizations should develop close collaboration with the consumer-citizens to harness their support for their functioning. The paper presents innovative cases of community-based enterprises to show the beneficial effects of the active involvement of consumer-citizens in business functioning. The paper concludes with some suggestions for businesses for developing deep collaboration with the consumer-citizens to change their business models fitting in the Postgrowth Economy.
The paper is accessible here: Embracing Post-Growth. Chapter 3
The whole book is accessible here: Embracing Post-Growth. International Chair in Sustainable Finan