Call for Papers: Special issue on Consumption and Sustainability

2025-12-12

Objectives and scope of the special issue

In recent decades, concern about environmental degradation, from climate change to biodiversity loss, has intensified in both academic and public spheres. The growing interest in sustainable consumption coexists with important questions about how different social groups interpret environmental challenges, what barriers they encounter in changing their habits, and what meanings they attribute to sustainability. Research in the sociology of consumption has indeed revealed marked social differences in commitment to sustainable practices, which are more widespread among groups with higher cultural capital. These inequalities, also influenced by factors such as gender, location, and the digitalization of consumption, affect the discourses and behaviors associated with responsible consumption.

This special issue is based on the premise that perceptions of sustainability and consumption must be understood within the broader context of tensions between environmental discourses, social inequalities, and market dynamics. Its main objective is to gather research that examines how social perceptions of sustainable consumption are shaped, negotiated, and expressed from diverse perspectives. Contributions are sought that analyze the construction of environmental concerns in different social groups, the meanings that sustainability acquires in varied contexts, and the influence of media discourses, regulatory frameworks, business strategies, or digitalization processes on consumption practices.

The call for papers is open to researchers at all stages of their careers and to professionals involved in the study of consumption and sustainability. Submissions that offer critical, comparative, or situated perspectives in local, regional, or transnational contexts are especially encouraged.

Topics

Submissions may address, among others, the following topics:

  1. Social perceptions of environmental degradation and the climate crisis, including attitudes toward ecological risks, emerging sensibilities, and associated emotions
  2. Sustainable consumption practices in areas such as food, energy, mobility, fashion, or tourism, as well as material, symbolic, and economic barriers to their adoption
  3. Public and media discourses on sustainability and consumption, their influence on public opinion, and their relationship with corporate, political, or activist narratives
  4. Social inequalities and sustainability, with particular attention to how class, gender, age, territory, or ethnicity shape experiences and possibilities for responsible consumption
  5. Circular economy, repair, and reuse, and their impact on the reconfiguration of consumption habits and values
  6. Digitalization, platforms, and emerging technologies, and their role in promoting or inhibiting sustainable practices
  7. Critical perspectives on greenwashing, including analyses of the role of companies, institutions, and markets in producing discourses on sustainability
  8. Cultural transformations and politics of consumption, incorporating debates on ethics, citizenship, responsibility, and environmental justice

Submissions that broaden or challenge the boundaries of the debate are also welcome.

Guest editor:

Carlos J. Fernández Rodríguez, UAM

Key Dates

  • Abstract submission (500 words). Deadline: March 1st, 2026
  • Send extended abstracts to: carlos.fernandez@uam.es
  • Communication of abstract acceptance: March 15th, 2026
  • Full paper submission: September 15th, 2026. The text should follow the manuscript guidelines available at Revista Española de Sociología (RES) and be uploaded to the journal website at https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/res/about/submissions