Austerity Ireland, the New Thrift Culture and Sustainable Consumption

2017/10/15 by Fiona Murphy · 10 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Austerity #Consumption (sociology) #Context (archaeology) #Cultural Industries and Urban Development #Economics #Geography #Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism #Irish #Law #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Social science #Sociology #Sustainability #Sustainable consumption

paper · pdf · doi:10.22439/jba.v6i2.5410

published in Journal of Business Anthropology 6(2), 158-174 (Copenhagen Business School)

openalex publication_date 2017/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

In this article, I discuss whether austerity measures have an impact on individual consumers’ orientations towards sustainability. Through an ethnographic examination of second-hand markets, in particular flea markets and second-hand baby goods markets, I examine whether economic crisis has changed people’s consumption habits in Irish society. While the study of sustainability has a long, interdisciplinary history, little is known about the relationship between austerity and sustainable consumption patterns, particularly in an Irish context. Thus, this study questions whether reduced spending and consumption patterns may serve the interests of sustainability politics.

Citations

• A Second-hand Shoppers’ Motivation Scale: Antecedents, Consequences, and Implications for Retailers

Cited by

• Sustainable consumption [wikipedia]

Related

• Swamped in dinosaurs with LED lights: negotiating sustainability in a high-consumption society
• Theories of (Un)sustainable Consumption
• External enablers of Eurozone austerity: exploring the link between the ease of suppressing domestic spending and trading partners’ demand
• The Cost-of-Living Crisis in the UK and Ireland: on Inflation, Indexation, and One-Off Policy Responses
• The alchemy of austerity