Young people in the global north: Environmental heroes or pleasure-seeking consumers

Authors

Elyse R. Stanes, University of WollongongFollow
Natascha Klocker, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

108637

Publication Details

Stanes, E. & Klocker, N. (2016). Young people in the global north: Environmental heroes or pleasure-seeking consumers. In N. Ansell, N. Klocker & T. Skelton (Eds.), Geographies of Global Issues: Change and Threat (pp. 553-574). Singapore: Springer.

Abstract

Young people in the Global North have disparate identities in relation to environmental sustainability; they are purportedly more knowledgeable and concerned about the environment and climate change than older generations, but are also typecast as leaders of a hedonistic consumer culture. This chapter undertakes a critical review of the key research trajectories across geography, youth studies, and the social sciences that pertain to young people, consumption, and environmentalism. It draws on recent research that has sought to complicate the positioning of contemporary young people as either "hedonistic consumers" or "environmental heroes." The reality, for many young people, lies in between these two visions. This chapter foregrounds recent research that eschews a one-size-fits-all approach to young people, consumption, and environmentalism, by highlighting their unique everyday sustainabilities.