New Directions and Virtues in Sustainable Materialist Movements

After extensive examination of the specifically political motivations of sustainable materialist movements, this chapter focuses on what is new and unique about these movements, and what differentiates them from past notions of environmentalism and ethical or political consumerism. We discuss three key unique properties or strategies of the movements: that they are explicitly focused on collective action, engage a specific notion of systems-based and material sustainability, and embody a prefigurative politics or practice that is based in everyday material needs. Sustainable materialist movements also illustrate a set of key values or virtues, including humility, critical pluralism, and a political boldness that pushes beyond classic and limited notions of political action.