Unpacking Unsustainable Consumption and Production

Sammanfattning

Recognition of the inevitable impacts all human production and consumption have on the environment and the well-being of the planet has gained increased prominence in global development agendas and debates. Whilst companies have conventionally assumed a peripheral role in such debates, and within global environmental governance, they are increasingly expected to partake in sustainability efforts. This thesis enters this timely debate to examine how two Swedish outdoor gear companies, Fjällräven and Peak Performance, represent the problem of unsustainable production and consumption within their CSR/sustainability reports and social media content. This analysis examines how companies perceived as sustainability pioneers propose to address the inevitable impact their operations have on nature, and resolve the problem of unsustainable consumption and production. By employing Bacchi’s WPR approach, this thesis can conduct a reversed form of policy analysis to identify what aspects of unsustainable consumption and production the companies consider to constitute a problem, as well as identify the underlying presuppositions informing such representations. Furthermore, it grants this thesis the possibility to expose such representations to critical scrutiny and identify problematic silences in their representations and framings. The findings of this analysis reveal that both companies represent USCP in complex and often paradoxical ways, which incorporates elements/knowledges of both the GG and degrowth paradigms. Addressing these problematic silences and limitations is a critical task for both companies, particularly regarding their communication aimed at consumers, where their representations/framing can potentially influence consumers' perceptions of USCP.