Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Social (im)possibilities of the formation of ethical consumption: A comparative study of Sweden and Iran

Project description

A non-Western look at the conscious consumer

When consumers shop in an ethically conscious way, they can help fight child labour, save the planet and tackle cruelty to animals. This is ethical consumerism – avoiding the purchase of products and services that are deemed to have a negative impact. Research into this form of political activism is related mainly to European northern and western societies. The EU-funded ECIRSWE project will explore the issue in a non-Western social context. It will study two very different countries in terms of their social, economic, political and cultural situations: Iran and Sweden. To identify similarities and differences, people in each context will be interviewed about key factors of boycotting and of promoting organic products in their personal lives.

Objective

Ethical consumerism as a way of protecting society, civil and citizen rights, labour rights, as well as the environment and animal welfare is considered a civil response of consumers to the inefficient socio-environmental policies of governments and public organisations. Despite some initial findings from non-European societies, the great bulk of our knowledge of the phenomenon is related to the European northern and western societies that generally have relatively similar social contexts and structures. Going beyond the conventional boundaries to investigate the issue in a non-western social context and to provide a novel comparative study, the research strategy is to study two very different countries in terms of their social, economic, political and cultural situation, Iran and Sweden. Considering consumption as a social practice that is affected by embedded social regime and setting, the project will apply social practice theory (SPT) and multi-level perspective (MLP) to compare the (im)possibilities of the formation of ethical consumption in target countries. The project will apply in-depth semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling will be utilized to select a diverse sample group in each context. To understand the wide range of social parameters that determine ethical consumerism interviewees will be asked about related corresponding issues. They will also specifically be asked about key factors of buycotting, boycotting and organic products in their personal life. By identifying similarities and differences of consumption practices in response to the embedded social structure and settings in Sweden and Iran the project will contribute to further theorizing about ethical consumerism. The project will also reveal through which social mechanism consumers engage or not in ethical consumerism and what social regimes and structures promote them to be ethical consumer or prevent.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

OREBRO UNIVERSITY
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 191 852,16
Address
FAKULTETSGATAN 1
70182 Orebro
Sweden

See on map

Region
Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Örebro län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 191 852,16
My booklet 0 0