“What is to be sustained?”: Perpetuating systemic injustices through sustainable fashion

IF 3.6 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Otto von Busch
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Abstract

Abstract There seems to be a consensus across both the fashion system and academia that “fast fashion” has a problem with sustainability. An increase in consumption of cheap and accessible clothing is behind the rise in extraction and pollution across the world seems obvious, and often the solutions offered span from material and technical solutions to awareness-raising and ethical education of consumers. But most of these interventions either implicitly or explicitly push blame on the consumers of cheap goods. It is “they” who consume too much, the consumers of cheap garments. While goods and behaviors readily available to the upper strata of society are deemed sustainable, it is the aspirational consumption of less affluent consumers that needs to be rectified. This article examines how the general discourse on sustainable fashion strikes unevenly at the lower rungs of social hierarchies, amplifying differences in privilege and wealth while also moralizing, preaching down to, and denigrating the desires of the poor. Using Felix Guattari’s framework of the three ecologies, the discussion examines some familiar tropes in sustainability discourse, focusing on three lines: the emphasis on industrial and technological solutionism, the undermining of democratic principles, and the emotional besmirching of aspirations. These three tendencies add up to a contemporary equivalent of sumptuary laws aiming to hold back the social mobility and lowly desires of the masses. While this may not be the intent of the promoters of sustainable fashion, a thoughtless and single-minded critique of fast fashion impacts the dissemination of agency and blame across the definitions of sustainability. The article calls for practitioners to examine the premises of sustainable fashion more closely. Any serious discussion around fashion must start with the question: What is to be sustained?
“什么是可持续的?”:通过可持续的时尚使系统性的不公正永久化
时尚界和学术界似乎都一致认为,“快时尚”存在可持续性问题。世界各地开采和污染的增加背后是对廉价和方便服装消费的增加,这似乎是显而易见的,而提供的解决方案往往涵盖从材料和技术解决方案到提高消费者意识和道德教育。但这些干预措施大多或明或暗地将责任推给了廉价商品的消费者。消费太多的是“他们”,廉价服装的消费者。虽然社会上层容易获得的商品和行为被认为是可持续的,但需要纠正的是不那么富裕的消费者的渴望消费。本文探讨了关于可持续时尚的一般论述如何在社会等级较低的阶层中不均匀地罢工,放大特权和财富的差异,同时也道德化,说教,贬低穷人的欲望。利用Felix Guattari的三种生态框架,讨论探讨了可持续发展话语中一些熟悉的比喻,重点关注三条线:强调工业和技术解决方案主义,破坏民主原则,以及对愿望的情感玷污。这三种倾向加起来就相当于当代的奢侈品法,旨在抑制社会流动性和大众的低级欲望。虽然这可能不是可持续时尚的推动者的意图,但对快时尚的轻率和一门心思的批评影响了可持续性定义的代理和指责的传播。文章呼吁从业者更密切地审视可持续时尚的前提。任何关于时尚的严肃讨论都必须从这个问题开始:什么是可持续的?
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来源期刊
Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy
Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development
CiteScore
12.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
54
审稿时长
27 weeks
期刊介绍: Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy is a refereed, open-access journal which recognizes that climate change and other socio-environmental challenges require significant transformation of existing systems of consumption and production. Complex and diverse arrays of societal factors and institutions will in coming decades need to reconfigure agro-food systems, implement renewable energy sources, and reinvent housing, modes of mobility, and lifestyles for the current century and beyond. These innovations will need to be formulated in ways that enhance global equity, reduce unequal access to resources, and enable all people on the planet to lead flourishing lives within biophysical constraints. The journal seeks to advance scientific and political perspectives and to cultivate transdisciplinary discussions involving researchers, policy makers, civic entrepreneurs, and others. The ultimate objective is to encourage the design and deployment of both local experiments and system innovations that contribute to a more sustainable future by empowering individuals and organizations and facilitating processes of social learning.
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