Eco-Standards, Product Labelling and Green Consumerism

Transcription

1 Eco-Standards, Product Labelling and Green Consumerism

2 Consumption and Public Life Series Editors: Frank Trentmann and Richard Wilk Titles include: Mark Bevir and Frank Trentmann (editors) GOVERNANCE, CITIZENS AND CONSUMERS Agency and Resistance in Contemporary Politics Magnus Boström and Mikael Klintman ECO-STANDARDS, PRODUCT LABELLING AND GREEN CONSUMERISM Daniel Thomas Cook (editor) LIVED EXPERIENCES OF PUBLIC CONSUMPTION Encounters with Value in Marketplaces on Five Continents Nick Couldry, Sonia Livingstone and Tim Markham MEDIA CONSUMPTION AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Beyond the Presumption of Attention Amy E. Randall THE SOVIET DREAM WORLD OF RETAIL TRADE AND CONSUMPTION IN THE 1930S Kate Soper and Frank Trentmann (editors) CITIZENSHIP AND CONSUMPTION Harold Wilhite CONSUMPTION AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE A View from South India Forthcoming: Jacqueline Botterill CONSUMER CULTURE AND PERSONAL FINANCE Money Goes to Market Roberta Sassatelli FITNESS CULTURE Gyms and the Commercialisation of Discipline and Fun Consumption and Public Life Series Standing Order ISBN Hardback Paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

3 Eco-Standards, Product Labelling and Green Consumerism Magnus Boström Södertörn University College, Sweden Mikael Klintman Lund University, Sweden

4 Magnus Boström and Mikael Klintman 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Boström, Magnus. Eco-standards, product labelling and green consumerism / Magnus Boström, Mikael Klintman. p. cm. (Consumption and public life) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Eco-labeling. 2. Green products. 3. Green marketing. I. Klintman, Mikael, II. Title. HF5413.B dc

5 Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations viii ix xi 1 Introduction: Green Consumerism, Green Labelling? 1 Risk culture and eco-standards 1 Four themes: politics, trust, differentiation, and mismatch 4 Analysing labelling: outline 11 Methodology and normative position 14 2 The Historical Context Key Trends 17 Individualization 19 Globalization 20 Ecological modernization 20 From production to consumption 21 From government to governance, the rise of private authorities, and new rule-making 24 3 Green Labels and Other Eco-Standards: A Definition 27 Defining green labelling 28 Other eco-standards 31 4 The Consumers Role: Trusting, Reflecting or Influencing? 33 Green political consumerism 33 Three views of policy tools and consumer roles 40 Conclusion 45 5 Our Cases 46 Organic food labelling 46 Forest certification and labelling 50 GMs: no mandatory labelling in the United States, but labelling in the EU 53 Marine certification and seafood labelling in Sweden 55 Green electricity 57 Green and ethical mutual funds (SRI funds) 62 Paper labelling the Swan versus Paper Profile 65 v

6 vi Contents 6 Sceptical and Encouraging Arguments 67 Market-oriented arguments 68 Knowledge-oriented arguments about environment and health 73 Green governance-oriented arguments 76 Conclusion 82 7 Policy Contexts and Labelling 83 Theorizing policy context 84 Political culture 86 Existing rules and regulations: enabling, protecting or suppressing? 95 Organizational landscape 102 Materiality and technology 106 Conclusion Three Framing Strategies: From a Complex Reality to a Categorical Label 112 An introductory example: the moving and slippery nature of fish labelling 112 The concept of framing 114 Three framing strategies 115 Boundary framing: to draw or move the line between the green and the ordinary 117 Frame resolution: to resolve conflicts and turn diverging views into a uniform label 122 Frame reflection: to increase the clarity and openness of labelling debates 125 Conclusions: trade-off between the framing strategies? Organizing the Labelling 132 Two perspectives on organizing: coalition and formal organization 132 How to organize SMO business interaction in labelling arrangements? 136 Actors involved: interest, roles, and power 144 Conclusion Dealing with Mutual Mistrust 157 Introduction 157 To trust or to mistrust: the role of repeated interaction 157 Science and cognitive authorities 161

7 Contents vii Transparency and auditability 168 Conclusion: towards mutual, reflective trust (among those involved)? Green Labelling and Green Consumerism: Challenges and Horizons 175 Politics empowers labelling 178 Reflective trust empowers labelling 185 Symbolic differentiation empowers labelling 188 How to empower the consumers 194 Notes 199 References 212 Index 231

8 List of Figures and Tables Figures 7.1 Policy contexts and labelling Actors involved in labelling 145 Tables 4.1 Types of green political consumerism Views of labels and consumer roles Three framing strategies in labelling Four labelling themes 176 viii

9 Acknowledgements This book is based on research projects financed by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning, and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. We thank them all. We want to acknowledge the contributions made by our colleagues at the Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Stockholm University; at Stockholm University College; at the Research Policy Institute, Lund University; and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Many people at these institutes and elsewhere have contributed generously with their inspiration and advice. In particular, we wish to thank, in alphabetical order. Andy Zachs, Anna-Lisa Lindén, Anna Olofsson, Annika Kronsell, Beatrice Bengtsson, Boris Holzer, Claes-Fredrik Helgesson, Ebba Sjögren, Erika Jörgensen, Gert Spaargaren, Göran Ahrne, Göran Sundqvist, Ingmar Elander, Karin Bäckstrand, Karin Fernler, Karin Svedberg Nilsson, Kristina Tamm Hallström, Lars Gulbrandsen, Lena Ekelund, Linda Soneryd, Martin Rein, Mats Benner, Maurie Cohen, Michele Micheletti, Nils Brunsson, Renita Thedvall, Rolf Lidskog, Sander van den Burg, Sheila Jasanoff, Sofia Nilsson, Sophie Dubuisson Quellier, Steven Yearley, Ylva Uggla, and Åsa Vifell. Special debts of gratitude are owed to the many people in several countries who have given freely of their time and effort during our research interviews. We also thank Nina Colwill and Alan Crozier for their patient work in correcting our English in various chapters of this book. Furthermore, we would like to mention events and meetings where people have provided us with particularly valuable insights and reinforcing critiques: The Swedish Sociological Association in 2006; The International Sociological Association in June 2006; The XVI World Congress of Sociology in Durban, South Africa, in July 2006; the book seminars at Sundbyholm and at Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research in Sweden in the Spring of 2007, and in Genarp in August 2007; the Nordic Consumer Research Conference in Helsinki in October 2007; the Seminar Series at the Research Policy Institute, Lund University, between 2005 and 2007, and finally the seminar at the Section for ix

10 x Acknowledgements Science and Technology Studies, University of Gothenburg, in February Finally, we would like to express our warmest gratitude to our families Lotta, Isak, Ivar, Arvid, and Jenny, Leo, Bruno, Fred for all their encouragement and for providing us with the most important inspiration. MAGNUS BOSTRÖM AND MIKAEL KLINTMAN Stockholm and Lund, Sweden, April 2008

11 List of Abbreviations ACPA AF&PA AI CSRR CSA DIY DJSI EMS EMO Eurosif FLO FoE FSC GEN GM GRI ICES IFOAM ILO IOAS ISEAL Alliance ISO IUCN KF LRF MAC MSC NGO NOP NOSB OECD American Crop Protection Association American Forest and Paper Association Association of Independent Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Research Canadian Standards Association Do-It-Yourself Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Environmental management systems Environmental movement organization European Social Investment Forum Fairtrade Labelling Organization International Friends of the Earth Forest Stewardship Council A.C. Global Ecolabelling Network Genetic modification Global Reporting Initiative International Council for the Exploration of the Sea International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements International Labour Organization International Organic Accreditation International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance International Organization for Standardization World Conservation Union Kooperativa Förbundet (The Swedish Cooperative Union) Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund. (The Federation of Swedish Farmers) Marine Aquarium Council Marine Stewardship Council Non-governmental organization National Organic Program National Organic Standards Board Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development xi

12 xii List of Abbreviations OFPA OTA PEFC PRI SAI SFB SFI SIF SLU SMO SRI SSNC TNC UKSIF UN UNEP FI USDA WTO WWF Organic Food Protection Act Organic Trade Association Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes Principles for Responsible Investment Social Accountability International Sustainable Forestry Board Sustainable Forestry Initiative Social Investment Forum The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Social movement organization Socially Responsible Investing (the basis for green and ethical mutual funds) Swedish Society for Nature Conservation Transnational Corporation UK Social Investment Forum United Nations United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative US Department of Agriculture World Trade Organization World Wide Fund for Nature